It's A Wonderful World?
by Vanestea
Summary: "We'll always be together…and what a wonderful world it will be."    Little did I know.  Neku/OC, Shiki/OC, Beat/OC, some onesided OC/OC
1. Death Becomes You

The concert was amazing. I was surprised that my ears weren't bleeding from the overexposure to the sound of amps and rock music on full blast. The vocalist bows to us, his audience, before he leaves the stage followed closely by his band. The room clears out, my brother and I with the crowd.

My brother, he was a 14 year old who went by the name of Drizzle. He never liked using his really name. He was Rai Daisute Shura by birth and Drizzle Shower to everyone else. He had a full head of golden hair and bright blue eyes, similar to my own. Rai thought of himself as a gangster, and in honest opinions, I'd consider him one. At my side, he kept his focus on his cell phone, his fingers tapping at the keys rapidly.

And who was I? I was Akiko Ryo Shura. My hair a dark red, almost crimson colour. 15 years old, blue eyes, and a horrid temper. But no one spoke to me. Nor did they speak to Driz. We were like…outcasts. Outcasts in our own hometown. Shibuya, of course. The crowded streets were like home to us. From the buses to the styles, it was everything.

But back to me. Was I attractive? Fairly, though that was debatable. Was I tough? That's possible. I wasn't a force to be reckoned with. I felt…different. I was weird. So was Driz. We were two people who just didn't get along with the average person. The constant call of 'weirdo' in the street was a pain at first, but as we both walked through the thick, humid summer night air, we ignored the hisses.

We didn't need to worry about what other people thought of us. We were two of a kind, and we had each other.

Driz looked at me from the corner of his eye, his eyebrow raised. I gave him my own look in questioning. He pointed down the street, and my eyes followed his finger down the street to a very skittish looking man. His eyes were restless, red veins in the whites of his eyes. His brown hair was shaggy and unkempt. He wore a suspicious trench coat.

I felt very uncomfortable suddenly. Driz shuffled to the other side of the street, and I followed after him.

The man was brandishing something to a woman who worked here in A-East. She was speaking frantically, and that caught our attention. He hissed in a very harsh voice and brandished it again.

"He's creeping me out." Driz said. I nodded, mentally agreeing with him. A couple older adults stopped around us, and watched the scene with us. The man lunged at the woman, and she let out a scream of terror that made me jump. Driz hissed under his breath and grabbed my wrist. Other people started to scramble around us, but something unbelievable happened.

"GIVE ME THE KIDS!" The attacker shouted across the street. "ALL OF THE KIDS!"

The crazy man across the street broke into a run, the wild, mad looking in his eyes. He was brandishing a knife. Its tip was covered in a red liquid I hoped wasn't blood.

There was screams of the crowds around us.

Several people around us were caught in his frenzy, and I felt my heart beat catch up with me.

"Fuck Aki, MOVE!" Driz yelled, ripping me from my spot on the street and breaking into a run. Thoughts ran through my mind, hearing more screams behind me. I panicked, panicked and ran. Driz looked behind him and I saw the frightened look in his eyes. I looked back, instantly regretting it. The crazy man had just plunged the weapon into my thigh. I let out a yelp and kicked and screamed. Driz got on the man's back and constantly bashed his head with his fists. The man, wild and savage, took a stab at Driz.

And manage to get him good.

My heart sunk in my chest, down into my feet, and shattered on the concrete below me. I had never felt so numb in my life. The man savaged my brother, and I couldn't do anything at all. My body had shut down. Driz's face…slashed. His chest, cut. A gash by his neck, his breathing faint. The man advanced on me, and I looked up at him solemnly. The fear was clearly etched in my face. CLEARLY.

Life was nothing without Driz.

If Driz is going, I'm going with him.

That's how we roll, we're always together…

And that's the last thing I thought before the numbness slowly turned into the pain of death.

My body hit the ground, I smelt copper. The smell made me nauseous, knowing it was my own blood.

From the spot I fell, I could see Driz's slashed face. His beautiful blue eyes, closed. A stream of blood had overlapped his right eyebrow. The substance was matted in his golden locks. The numbness came back, the will to close my eyes so strong. And I managed to muster my mouth to move.

"We'll always be together…and what a wonderful world it will be."

Little did I know.


	2. Day 1, Let's Work Together

- Day 1 – _Let's Get Together_

The next thing I knew, I was lifting myself off the concrete floor of Shibuya's Scramble Crossing. A pin fell off my chest and onto my lap. I picked it up in my hand gently. There was a sort of skull style on it, and it was black and white. I pocketed the pin.

I stood, confused for a while. No hisses. There was no one telling me to get out of their way. I felt alone. I felt very empty.

Then I remembered Rai. My poor brother was dead.

"Wait…wasn't I dead…?" I muttered to myself. Instantly I knew something was wrong. I couldn't hear myself speak! In fact, I couldn't hear a thing! I couldn't hear any of the people in the massive crowd speaking, shouting, or calling to others. I couldn't hear any natural sound.

What was happening to me! I went on a frantic rampage around the crossing. I ran back and forth, so unsure of what to do. I was about to panic, when someone placed a hand on my shoulder. I screamed and cautiously snapped around to face my attacker.

But instead of a threat, I saw the beautiful blue eyes and messy blonde hair of my brother. He tilted his head at me. Then spoke for a moment. I cursed whatever had made the hearing so hard. So I pointed to my ears, and he repeated. Stressing my fingers on my ears, I spoke.

"I can't hear anything." I told him. Driz let the air escape his mouth. So I guess it could be considered sighing, but I couldn't tell. He slowly mouths to me this time when he spoke.

'_Where are we?'_

"Shibuya, of course!" I narrowed my eyes. How could he not know his hometown? Driz paused, and thought for a moment. He scratched the back of his neck.

'_I thought that guy…though. You know.'_

"Yeah." I sighed. "Did we go to the hospital or something?"

Driz crossed his arms and was quiet again. I swear, sometimes his sentences were only three words long. He was a very complex creature. Like that one time with his girlfriend, he was so…confusing. I didn't even understand him. First it was on, the off, then on again. Sometimes he was just so difficult to understand. Only I could really understand him.

'_No, we didn't.'_

"Great, so what's goin' on?" The groan coming from my lips showed frustration. This was some messed of shit. How the fuck did we just randomly wake up in the Scramble Crossing after a stabbing rampage?

There was an awkward silence between us. Driz looked up, his eyes totally off somewhere else.

'_I'm seeing colours.'_

I took a glance at him. "What do you mean?" I asked.

'_Like, I feel high.'_

Now THAT confused me even more. "What!"

He didn't respond. So I tried to push him again. "Have you spoken to anyone yet?"

'_No.'_ He responded blandly. I placed a hand on my forehead and sighed. There's no way we're so close if he responds like that. And yet he's the closest friend I've got.

'_They don't see us.' _He added quickly after tapping my arm in order to catch my attention.

I thought about what he said. It might have been true. I mean, no one hissed at me about being so…weird, or even glared at me. We're so out of it, yet they can't see us. That kind of makes sense. I reached to grab the shoulder of a man who skimmed passed me and saw my hand dissolve right through his shoulder. That scared me. I jumped and pressed my back against Driz, my arms raised into a standard fighting position.

"What the hell!"

He rubbed my arm gently, and I stood up straight. I dusted myself off and looked at him for any bright ideas. Right now, I was freaking out. But I had to be calm around my brother. I was his example, after all.

'_Don't look at me.' _I can see that he already grasps my intentions. A pout formed on my face.

"Why not! You have good ideas!"

'_I see purple jackalopes and mutant zebras, and then a normal you.' _I resisted the urge to burst out laughing, '_I don't think I'll be much use navigating.'_

Driz could see the grin formed from resisting the laughter, and frowned. _'Laugh now, deaf one.'_

"I will, elevated one." I retorted, and blinked when I saw an abnormally large frog standing nearby. STARING at us with its red beady eyes, it leaped forwards once. Driz looked over my shoulder, an eyebrow raised. _'What the faaaack is that?'_ After stretching out the 'a', I could see him snorting and chuckling lightly. The frog approached again, a sinister look in its eyes. Another appeared beside it, and a third.

I felt nervous already, and shook his arm in protest. Driz looked at me, the blue eyes switching from the frogs to me with his eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't like these frogs…"

'…_then we'll run.' _ He nodded, determined and satisfied of his plan. I took him by the hand and ran passed the frogs. They became lethal at the sight of us running. They leapt swiftly after us. I yelped under my breath, and Driz kept looking back at them.

'_Faaack, they're random frogs in a yellow and green scramble crossing full of hippos!'_ He shouted. I would have laughed if my life wasn't in danger. My cell-phone was vibrating in my pocket widely. But I couldn't pick it up. Not now!

We skid to a halt at the statue of Hachiko. Then, turning to face the lethal, biting frogs, we pressed our backs against the statue. Out of nowhere, a girl about my age slid into line beside us. Her breath was uneven as she heaved in and out. Driz and I were both confused. I was scared for the most part of lethal frogs and crazy ladies now.

The girl was typing widely on her cell phone. How the hell is this a good time to text your friends! 'Oh, I'm about to get eaten by lethal mutant frogs! LOL! =D'. Smart one. A frog jumped off of my shoulder and I grunted in pain. Driz was being shown the text message on the girl's phone. He nodded and thrust the mobile into my hands.

The screen read 'We need to form a pact to fight the Noise, alright!'.

It took a minute or two to process, as the frogs bit Driz and he yelled angrily at them. I looked at the girl and nodded to Driz.

"Alright then." I muttered. She looked somewhat relieved, but anxious. There was a bunch of bright lights, and I felt something heavy in my chest relieve the weight.

"Whoa…" The lights momentarily blinded me, and I rubbed my eyes.

_Now help me fight, you two!_

What the fuck! There was a voice in my head!

_Who the hell are you!_

_Aki, what are you doing?_

The girl had started to randomly deal out tarot cards. Each frog had been burnt by a bit of fire.

_I'll explain later…just fight! Use your natural instincts!_

Strangely, Driz had pulled out his drum sticks. I watched curiously, and jumped when a huge explosion of lightning made one frog disappear into TV Noise. Driz looked back at me, a confused but intrigued expression on his face.

So I let myself be pulled into battle. The pact girl was still dealing out tarot cards and delivering the fate of the froggies. I went with it, and felt a sudden pull to the pouch in my coat pocket. I reached in and pulled out a blue pin with a wave detail and a bunch of white powder.

The first thing that came to my head, cocaine. But I had a feeling it wasn't no crack. A frog approached me, and I threw the powder at it. Instantly, my reaction was to outstretch the hand I held the blue pin in. The frog had been engulfed in a sphere of water and frozen. I smirked, and ran forward in an attempt to put good street fighting to use.

I bashed at the iced frog until it unfroze, and repeated my process of freezing and street fighting until the frog disappeared into TV noise just like the others.

The _ haired girl came into range and smiled.

_Hey there, I'm Asami_

I gave her a confused look. "So what, you can't talk?"

_Nah_

She shrugged in front of my brother and I.

'_That must suck, being mute.'_ Driz crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows.

_Oh, I'm not a mute. They took my voice._

"Who took your voice!" I gapped.

_The Reapers of course!_

Driz and I exchanged confused looks, and Asami's eyes widened.

_You guys don't know about the Reapers! Man you two lovebirds are hopeless—_

'_Hey! We're not lovers! That's sick!' _Driz hissed, raising a fist and turning red in the face.

"Yeah! Incest isn't our style, yo!" I clenched my fists, which were raised near my chest.

_Touching. Brother and Sister then?_

Her tone was very uninterested and sarcastic. I instantly felt a dislike to that tone. My teeth grit while Driz narrowed his eyes.

'_Just explain.'_

Asami went into an in-depth guide about what we had gotten ourselves into.

I knew 9 things now. So I etched a mental note into my brain.

Rai and I were truly dead

We had been given a chance at a second chance to life, since our death wasn't our time.

Shibuya had two realms, UG meaning Underground which was here, and RG which was the Real Ground and our true world.

We were in a Game, 'The Game', and were to be assigned missions every day and clear them within a certain time period…or we say goodbye to our second chance.

The Game is run by The Composer, and the Reapers. There's also a Conductor between the two groups.

The Reapers could erase us.

The Froggies were 'Noise', and weren't to be taken lightly.

Everyone gives an entry fee

The Game lasts 7 days, before you can be released. IF you survive, that is.

"So what's today's mission then?" I asked. She looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

_Look at your hands lately?_

'_Yes.'_

I laughed lightly, but looked down at my left hand. I gasped, as red numbers ticked down on my hand reading '24:37'. Driz had the same expression.

"We got the mission already! When!"

_Check your phone. _She shrugged nonchalantly and wandered off not to far, leading the way. I pulled my red and black cell phone out of my pocket and was greeted with a picture of Driz and I making checkerboards. Don't ask. Anyway, I checked the source of my vibrating mobile, and sweat dropped. My eyes widened and I felt the urge to face palm again.

'Reach 104. You have 60 minutes.

Fail, and face erasure

–The Reapers.'

"Oh, that's cute." I rolled my eyes. Asami laughed in my head.

'_So you can't talk?'_ Driz asked.

_You don't say very much, do you?_

'_Nah.'_

She groaned in my head. I chuckled softly, but followed after her across the crossing.

_It was my entry fee._

"Oh really? What's the use of entry fees?" I asked, brushing back some of my dark red hair. She looked in my direction.

_Well the Reapers take what you value the most._

'_Psh, Why?' _He scoffed with a laugh in his voice. His voice was like monotone in my head now. Because of the pact, Asami told us. It still wasn't as clear as her voice though.

_I'm not really sure about that. I only know so much. You can ask Mr. Hanekoma though!_ Asami gives us a closed eyed smile.

"What did we lose then?" I asked her honestly. She was feeling against an invisible wall leading to the 104 Building. Her attention was on the wall, but her brows furrowed.

_Umm…you said you can't hear?_

"Yeah." I nodded, crossing my arms and thinking.

_Didja value that?_

"I guess…I always did have sensitive hearing…and I do like my music." She nodded a few more times than necessary while I spoke.

_Well if it weakens you, than the Reapers will take it._

"And Driz?"

_I think they took his sanity._

'_Oh thanks.' _He huffed in silence beside me. Asami snickered.

_But really, I'm serious. You say he seems to be hallucinating?_

"Yeah…What the hell are you doing there, Psychic?"

She snorted and looked back at me.

_So I'm a psychic now?_

'_Like she's a pyro.'_

"Shove off." I grumbled.

_Anyway, the wall's blocked…and I can't see the-_

'_Reaper.'_

We females both turned to look at my younger brother curiously. He was nudging his head to a man dressed in a red hoodie on the other end of the crossing.

_Good eye there, Cracker._

'_The only normal thing I can see, people and Noise. And I'm not a cracker.' _He hissed.

_Whatever. _Asami rolled her eyes. I ran toward the Reaper, much to her surprise.

_Wha-HEY!_

The Reaper's head turned the slightest when I approach him. He muttered something, but the shadow from his hood made it hard to see. I kept a hand on my pocket and grit my teeth.

"Open the wall." I growled. Driz caught up beside me, followed by Asami. The Reaper stared. And when I blinked, he had disappeared. Driz growled, frustrated and surprised. Asami sighed.

_You can't just ASK them to open the walls, idiot_

"Hey, I can ask those bastards anything I want. They hold MY life, they'll get theirs." I clenched a fist in front of me.

Driz looked down at the timer and cursed. _'Shit! We have one minut—wait.'_

I looked down at my own hand and saw the timer had disappeared. "What…"

Asami swallowed quietly. _Someone must have finished the quest already._

"What do you mean?" I tilted my head at her, my blue eyes scanning her quietly.

_Well, we're not the only Players._

I smirked. "Good, good to know."

She raised a finger. _But we can't just let them do all the work, or we'll just get erased. And I frankly don't want to get erased because of you two._

'_You won't.' _

"So, we have how many days?"

Asami face palmed. _Six now, you durr._

"Hey, this durr saved yo' ass from frogs, ya'll better show some respect and quit yer-"

'_Shut up both of you.'_


	3. Day 2, Fighting for Freedom

- Day 2 – _Fighting for Freedom_

A yawn escaped my lips, and I rose from the concrete. I rubbed my eyes…then gasped at the sudden realization. There I was, standing by the AMX store. This was WEIRD. It was already the second day! I looked around for my brother and Asami, and found them in mere seconds. Driz yawned and stretched his long arms out in front of him. Asami looked at us expectantly.

We both looked at her, confused.

"What?" I asked.

_Well you never told me your names._

"Oh…well, I'm Akiko Shura, that's my brother Rai Shura, but most call him Drizzle." I pointed to each of us.

Driz nodded. Asami examined us for a while. Then she nudged her head to a Reaper by Center Street. I grit my teeth. Driz raised a fist and growled low in his throat. Asami crossed her arms and glared at the Reaper.

"_Let's get 'im yo'."_ Driz clenched his fist tighter.

_Alright _Asami nodded sharply. We ran towards the Reaper. He lifted his head, ghost like, as we approached.

"…"

I waited for him to finish talking so as Asami could explain to me. I can't exactly read the mouths of those hooded Reapers. Asami turned to me, and I gave her a hopeful look. She twirled a lock of her curly hair around her finger.

"Earth to Asami." I waved my hand in front of her face. Driz let his eyes wander around AMX. I'd never taken him here. It was all new to him. I think I actually promised him that I'd take him here…

_Oh, sorry. He said we have to get rid of these Noise._

She held a piece of paper in her hand and pointed to the red symbols on it.

'_So how do we find the Noise?'_

_Easy, we Mind Scan with our Player Pins._

Asami gave us a quick tutorial about mind scanning and a blurb on imprinting. She was starting to sound like those tutorial boxes in those old school video games. But hey, I secretly appreciated the help. If not, I'd be dead by now, not knowing what the fuck I'd be doing. Driz would last longer than me.

'_The purple horses are back.' _ He had opened one of his eyes on our search for the Noise. I chuckled under my breath, and Asami laughed in my head.

_Oh you're so high._

'_Yo, quiet you.'_

"Shut the fuck up, the both of you…I found them." I let my bright blue eyes open slowly and felt the relief like the blackout of 100 radios just occurred in my head. Asami groaned angrily and missed the opportunity to bitch at me for tell them to shut the fuck up.

Instead, I had already jumped into battle eagerly. I like this fight Noise stuff. It gives you a rush of adrenaline. If you're not too careful, you could get erased by Noise. But if you were good, kicking the asses of Noise was fun as hell.

I had gotten used to the mechanics of my powder. I've figured out two things. One of my pins froze Noise by changing the powder to water crystals. Another pin, which was black and had two beady yellow eyes in the darkness [1] changed the powder into soot. And it happened right in the palm of my hand! It was creepy, but mad sweet. I could use that soot to vanish from sight temporarily.

There was a third pin in my pocket, but it was blank. I couldn't even touch it. I knew it was there, because I did a back flip yesterday and it jumped out of my pocket. But I popped it back into my pocket, and I tried to pull it out. Instead, an invisible force denied me the privilege.

I decided that I'd just ignore that pin for now and focus on the—

_PAY ATTENTION, AKI!_

A wolf Noise pounced on my back and I fell onto the ground. I countered quickly, throwing a stunning punch to its jaw, kicking it gently aside and bashing my elbow down on its neck. I felt a heartstring being pulled when I did so. I did love animals, wolves being my favourites. I don't approve of animal cruelty but…

"DIE BITCH!" I slammed my heel down on its back and it disappeared in a bunch of TV noise. Asami praised from behind me and sent a flame at frog Noise. Driz was kicking some ass HARDCORE with his lightning bolts. He was so focused, and I almost got tackled down by more Noise for not paying attention.

We finished off the Noise, and the Reaper muttered to himself and disappeared. I crossed my arms and stared off into space for a while.

'Man that's weird…' I thought to myself.

_Isn't it?_

I gapped. 'Do you mind staying out of my thoughts for a little while?'

_Sorry, not my call, I can still hear you._

"Ugh." I placed my hand on my forehead in a total 'Leon' of Final Fantasy pose.

We run into Center Street, face more Noise to open another wall, and end up in the Scramble Crossing

"I'm starting to hate this place." I grumbled.

_After a day?_

"Damn straight bitch." I crashed into the wall blocking Hachiko. I did this weird shocked face when it pressed against the wall and Asami laughed at me. I could tell Driz was laughing too. I gave them both looks and held my cell phone to reread today's mission.

'Set the cursed sculpture free.

You have 60 minutes.

Fail, and face erasure.

-The Reapers'

"Yo, they should totally write 'Love, the Reapers' just to piss everyone off, eh Driz?"

He nodded with a smirk. _'Oh heeeell yeah.'_

Asami rolled her eyes.

"You gonna suffer gangster talk for a while, ya know."

_Yeah. Unfortunately._

I smiled inwardly to myself. 'You know, I'll talk with you normal every once in a while…if you want. I'm not that cruel…' I thought.

_Would you please?_

'Shura.'

_Oh ha-ha that's hilarious. _She said sarcastically, and I laughed aloud. The Wall Reaper set an objective for us, and we fought more and more Noise. I was getting tuckered out now. The adrenaline was dying a bit. Something was twisting in my stomach. That gut feeling.

Stepping by Hachiko, I sat near the animal statue and yawned. "I'm tired."

_Well, here's the statue, might as well check it out._

'_Right.' _Driz sat down beside me. Asami blinked at us.

_Well come on._

'_What?'_

_COME ON!_

"Bossy." I peered back at the dog and checked it out. The statue was different from the last time I saw it.

Asami started a mental scan, and I kicked my foot while she did so.

_There are no Noise around it._ She said finally.

I blinked for a minute. "What?"

_No Noise. _She repeated.

Driz looked at the statue again and saw the same blue mark I saw. I could swear the gears working in that smart head of his were turning and thinking up a plan. Then he started to rub the statue. Asami and I stood speechless.

_Mini-Shura, what are you doing?_

I caught on, and helped him rub that statue. "It's under the statue." I hummed, patting my brother's shoulder with my free hand. Oh he was so smart!~

_Hey, that's smart. _Asami joined us, and a low growling emitted from the statue. I heard the sound of a wall degenerating behind us, and almost turned around to look back, but a large wolf noise burst from the statue and threw Asami back. She landed and dragged back on her feet, then looked up from her crouching position.

_It's asking for it!_

I smirked and jumped opposite of her. "Then let's give it to 'em!"

The pin Mr. H had passed on to Asami activated, and we crossed paths. Driz kept his eye on us, but fought on anyway. When we crossed paths, she slipped a tarot card into my hand and we turned to face each other holding the same card, 'Water'

We were back to back and waves were rolling from my hands and from her cards. The Noise was engulfed in the small storm, and she threw down another card. The waves froze over, and I laughed evilly.

"Hell's freezing over, bitch!"

Driz came in and took over when the ice had disappeared and struck the Noise with large lightning bolts. It disappeared with a cry of agony. Asami gave me a high-five, which I was happy to receive.

We turned around and glanced at our hands. The timer on my left hand had disappeared. I pumped one fist in the air.

"Oh hell yeah! That's how you do it!" I smirked.

_Man, sometimes I wonder about you two._

_'Who are the stiffs?' _Driz peered over her head, ignoring her comment. I leaned forward to see further. At the entrance to the West Bus Terminal, two people were watching us. One with mouth agape, the other very out of it.

The shocked one was a red-head, like me! This made me feel special. But her hair was a shade brighter than my own, almost pinkish. She wore some green shorts...or was it a skirt? Under her short coat, she wore more D+B looking clothing. I shivered, but admired her high heeled boots instead.

The other had his blue eyes on us, but looked a bit like Asami when she thought. He wore purple and black, and his face was covered with his shirt's 'ninja' feature, which me and my friends use to call large necks on shirts. His shorts were white, the occasional blue and yellow on the pockets. The attire could be like J of the M...Jupiter of the Monkey. That was my favourite brand! Right before Dragon Couture, of course. His hair was a flaming, bright orange. And spiky, almost gravity defying. It was cute, and the fangirl inside me giggled girlishly.

_What the hell? _Asami smirked at me from the corner of my eye.

I blushed very lightly. 'Stop reading my thoughts!'

_Stop thinking then!_

I growled at her, and she butt heads with me. We had this sort of lightning bolt between us as we glared at each other. Her glare was more of a teasing smirk, while mine was a death-to-you blushing glare.

Driz ignored the two of us, and I could hear him (very very monotone like in my mind) sigh exhausted like. My brother approached the two.

The two looked at us funny. I felt awkward...but relieved at the same time. Meeting other players? How sick is that!

I mean, it was sort of obvious. After all, they could see us, right?

Unless they were spirit seeing freaks. That would be a problem...

Driz nodded to the girl, and she blushed slightly, but nodded back. He then nodded to the guy with the orange hair and the honking headphones on. And he looked at my brother with cold eyes. But nodded to him with a quiet hum.

Asami gave me a look, and approached the Players. I followed suite.

"Hey there, I'm Shiki." The girl smiled. "You must be the other Players then?"

_'I guess so.' _Driz shrugged beside Asami. Asami nodded slowly.

Shiki raised her hand parallel to the ground. "This is my partner Neku."

'Neku~' I mused in my head. Asami snickered. I glared her way. She smirked, but didn't speak. Ha, no kidding.

"Nice to meet you." I nodded. Her returning smile was very welcoming, and I couldn't help but to let my soft side's smile out. "Like wise!" Shiki grinned. Driz stared at his feet. Ohhhh...my little brother is crushing! ~ Dawwww.

Shiki looked at Neku. But Neku didn't move. He was thinking. His eyes were on us though. I was getting nervous, so my eyebrows furrowed.

"Hey, Orangeylocks, whatcha staring at?" I narrowed my eyes. He lifted his head slightly at me, but didn't move.

"Nothing." Neku scratched the back of his left arm with his right hand and turned his head away.

"So you guys cured the other statue?" After Shiki's worried examinations of her partner, she turned to me.

_Other statue? _Asami questioned.

"Other statue?" I said.

"The Mayoi statue down by the West Bus Terminal was infected by the Noise." Shiki crossed her hands in front of her stomach.

"Interesting..." I crossed my arms and thought. 'Man that would have been tricky...'

_'Moon dogs. __[2]__' _Driz sighed. I laughed, holding my arm.

Shiki-and even Neku- looked at him weird. I chuckled.

"His entry fee was sanity."

Neku was confused, but Shiki automatically understood. She actually looked like she didn't want to talk about that. "What was yours?" She pointed to Asami and I.

Asami pointed to her throat. Shiki was sort of slow at first, but gasped loudly when she figured it out. Much to the surprise of Neku and me, we both twitched.

"Your voice!"

Asami nodded.

_She's good at reading my thoughts._

I scoffed inwardly.

Shiki twiddles her thumbs and looked at me expectantly. "And you?"

"My hearing." I said. She stared at me like I was crazy.

"How can you-" Neku spoke, but Driz interrupted.

_'She can read your lips.'_

_Oh she'd like to do more than just read your lips, Neku._

'Shut up!' I hissed mentally, she laughed.

Something irritated the others, and I turned around when Driz's face went sour. Behind us was a woman, maybe in her early 20s, with short pink hair and protruding black wings. Shiki gasped beside Driz. Man, I hated not being able to hear out of my pact!

"That voice…you were at 104 yesterday!" Neku growled and raised both of his arms.

"You're that Reaper!" Shiki covered her mouth, frightened.

'Reaper? That's something new. Sorta excited to see one though…Pinky.' I thought to myself. Asami agreed quietly. She had crossed her arms and stood cautiously behind me.

"Well, excuuuse me for doing my job." The Reaper brushed back some of her pink hair. Her cold, menacing eyes fell on my pact. "Oh, here are the other pack rats, peeeeerfect." The woman's smile turned into something of an evil smirk.

The five of us stood in battle positions…well…minus Shiki. She seemed to be bracing impact.

The Reaper was quiet for a moment, but smiled at us. "You know, you owe me a bowl of ramen. For not disappearing like you're s'posed to."

I snorted. "What kind of Reaper are you, Pinky!"

The furious eyes shot daggers at me. "Quiet, deaf girl."

Driz grabbed at my arms to keep me from skinning her, but I was honestly hurt. Why rub it in? I hated it well enough.

Pinky looked around and examined us again. We failed to utter another word.

"What's wrong? Too spooked to answer? Well, this should bring you around!" Under her palm, Noise started to appear. I panicked, and Asami dragged me over to one side. She was also looking a bit fear stricken. Shiki and Driz had disappeared. This confused me deeply, but I fought alongside Asami anyway. In the distance, Neku was fighting some Noise himself. I was tempted to go and help him…but Asami needed me. She crossed paths with me and I felt another Fusion attack coming on.

_It's asking for it! Then let's give it to 'em!_

The surf took down most of the Noise, but a porcupine Noise. It jabbed me in the leg, HARD. I fell to the ground, skimming my knee.

"SHIT." I hissed. The Noise hovered over me, and got ready to attack. I tried getting up, defending myself. Instead, it knocked me back to the ground. Asami kept pulling out tarot cards, finding the right ones and kicking furiously at the Noise. A penetrating bullet shot over my body and right into the porcupine. I looked back at a focused Neku, who had his hand raised. He was using the pysch.

I smiled gratefully at him. And I could have sworn I saw him smile back. The Noise hissed and came at Asami instead. I bashed at it with a couple kicks here and there and some freezing from the pin 'Sea Worthy'. Asami kicked its ass hardcore, and I could slightly see lightning bolts erupting from nothingness.

The porcupine Noise disappeared. Driz and Shiki reappeared at that moment, panting just as much as we were.

The pink Reaper blinked. "Wow. You're, like, stronger than I thought." She smirked wildly. "But I'm not done playing yet." Pinky raised her palm again, "This next Noise will be a killer."

Neku's eyes filled up with a sudden eagerness when me and Asami prepared for battle again, Driz not too far behind.

"Hmm?" The Reaper blinked at him when he approached her a bit. What was this kid thinking!

_Dude, what's he doing!_

'I honestly don't know.' I admitted mentally. She sighed, aggravated.

Neku raised both arms into a combat stance. The Reaper laughed, and worry was etched all over Shiki's face. I felt something jerk in my stomach, but ignored it.

'_Phones, what are you playing at?' _Driz gaped. My brother had his arms outstretched, his face shocked.

"Please tell me you're not planning on fighting me?" Pinky smiled an amused grin. Neku didn't respond, but his eyebrows furrowed. She threw back her head and laughed.

"Ha ha ha ha! How stupid can you get? You'll never win against a Reaper!" Said Reaper must have been enjoying this pointless attention. But then her face went completely serious, "But all right. I'm game. I was getting bored anyway."

Pinky snapped her fingers, and the tough Noise disappeared.

The five of us gasped, Driz less so.

"How can you erase your own Noise!" I growled, "That's like, cannibalism!"

'_Plus, aren't they like, on your side yo?' _Driz crossed his arms, the shock hidden behind his calm looking blue eyes.

A look of disgust played across the Reaper's face. "Eww, gross! Don't group us together."

Asami rolled her eyes. _She's messed up, this one!_

I nodded to her.

"The Noise are nothing but tools. Pawns. Just like you Players. Ha ha!" The pink lady continued, laughing along the way.

"That's sick." I let my arms fall to my sides. My god, Reapers were insane. They ran this Game?

_Yep._

Thank you Miss. Intervene.

_You're welcome, Miss. I'll-Kick-Your-Grandma's-Ass__-And-Not-Feel-Bad._

Ha ha, you're hilarious. I wouldn't do that to an elder.

_Aren't I a card?_

"Don't, Neku! You don't want to take her on! She can erase you in a second! Ohh…" The worried was engraved deeper into Shiki's young face. She crossed her hands over her stomach again.

'_You should listen to her, man!'_

"Yeah, don't be an idiot." I added, holding up a finger.

_He'll do it anyway…_Asami sighed. I shrugged, but was genuinely worried anyway.

"Hmph…" Neku crossed his arms. The Reaper looked unamused now.

"Aww, what? You're giving up? Booo-ring. Don't get my hopes up like that. Killjoy." Pinky paused, placed a gloved hand to her forehead, and smirked.

"Now that I'm in the mood…maybe I should finish the job."

"What!" Driz and I stood, shocked. Asami's shock was written on her face. She must hate not being able to talk.

_I do!_

Ignore the voice.

"Huh!" Neku was just as taken aback as we were.

Pinky groaned in defeat. "But…I can't do that."

"Psh, what, ya don't have clearance jerk?" I smirked. Yessss, there will be no erasure! Woot!

_You just want to save Nek—_

Shut up! I swear all-

"Well, this is a pickle… Hmm… I know! Let's try something fun!" Pinky perked up. Asami cautiously shuffled her cards. She peered at the occasional card.

"Hey, Headphone Guy! [3] A special bonus challenge for you! If you pull it off, I'll let you out of the Reapers' Game!"

Asami instantly saw the loophole in that and shouted in my mind…loud and clear.

_SHE CAN'T DO THAT!_

'_You can't do that, Pinky!' _Driz had his fist in front of him, gritting his teeth.

"You…you will?" Neku looked up from his ninja neck.

"You betcha!" The woman smiled almost like she meant it. "Sweet deal, huh?" She brushed back her hair again, "So what do you say?".

Neku covered his face again by looking down into his ninja neck. He thought again, and I was about to intervene…but Driz and Asami had pulled me offside into battle. The stupid-

The wolf Noise pounced on my back. I hissed and threw it off quickly. These fuckin' wolves are starting to piss me off!

_You and me both!_

Shiki screeched from behind me and Asami.

"Neku, don't! Don't listen!"

I wanted to look back; I wanted to know what was going on! But the Noise kept coming…attacking. It was making me angry. Very angry…infuriated in fact. I threw the powder at my enemy with my angry, and was shocked out of my skin when it burst into flame. The heavy weight in my pocket lifted.

We wiped out the Noise quickly and ran to join the situation at hand. Neku was holding a pin in his hand. The Reaper had a satisfied smirk on her face when we were about 20 feet away.

"What are you waiting for? Do what comes naturally." Pinky had a fist in front of her, raised with that same satisfied smirk. "Save yourself. Screw everybody else, right?" The eagerness in her voice was enough to make me worry about what she was making him do.

_Oh shit! He's…he's gonna…damn it!_

Asami ran a bit fast than Driz and I. We didn't have to push hard. We were pretty good runners.

Shiki looked at Neku solemnly. "Don't Neku. Don't kill me…"

"…I have to."

WHAT?

_That shit head!_

'_What the faaack!' _Driz ran up ahead of me. I slowed down; the horrible feeling of death reminding me what it was like to be in a position like that. What if…

I had always thought how terrible it was for someone to be able to take another's life.

Neku had gripped Shiki around the neck with a Psychokinesis pin. I came to a complete halt, as did Asami and Driz a while later.

"Please…don't kill me." Shiki pleaded. Neku's eyes were covered by his orange bangs.

"ARE YOU CRAZY NEKU!" I yelled. It didn't stop him.

'_Put her the fuck down, now!'_ Driz used that voice I didn't like…his serious, fatherly like voice. The gruff, angry voice my father uses.

Shiki's face was a bit purple. I hissed more at him, and Asami was screaming in my head as an alternative to shouting. And it hurt!

"Now let's see some results!" The Reaper laughed maniacally.

"You bit-"

"Hey! That's enuffa that." A man ran towards us, about in his 20s as well.

The Reaper's face sudden becomes a mixture of frightened and annoyance. Driz was still trying to get Neku to drop Shiki. Asami sighed in relief.

"Who are you?" She exclaimed.

_Mr. Hanekoma!_

I sighed as well. Mr. H…Asami told me about the attractive café owner.

"Ah-ah-ah, sister. You gotta play by the rules. Making "erase your partner" the mission is a clear violation." Mr. Hanekoma shook his finger at her. I wanted to laugh, but was still too shocked. C'mon Neku…let her go…

"It is!" Driz and Neku snapped there heads to him.

"I know that. I was just having a little postgame fun." The woman hissed.

"What!" Neku blinked. He had dropped Shiki now. Driz was at her side in a heartbeat. She was clinging to his arm, and he was helping her up. Rubbing her back all the while.

"One mission per day. That's the rule. And only the Game Master can pick the missions."

"I know that, too! But I'm not the Game Master. Which MEANS this wasn't a mission, which MEANS I didn't break any rules!"

"Then start walkin', sister. Your work's done for the day."

Pinky narrowed her eyes, and huffed very femininely.

"...Hmph. For a Player... you know a lot about our rules."

"You…you tricked me!" Neku butt in. We all looked at him. Asami and Driz were glaring. Mr. H was just being….Mr. H I guess. Shiki was crestfallen, and I just stared. Sort of shocked I was…maybe even paled.

"All that about letting me out of the Game- that was all a lie!"

Pinky waved her hand at him poshly. "Like, that is so rude! I do not lie. If I erased you, that's still letting you out of the Game!" She examined the six in front of her and looked disgusted, "Ugh, you totally ruined all my fun. Time to call it a day. We can play some more another time.".

Pinky winked at us, then disappeared. I was relieved of my stress. Finally.

That was some crazy Game playing.

Mr. Hanekoma smiled at us. Shiki spoke up for all of us shocked children.

"Thank you so much. We owe you our lives, Mister...um..."

"Hanekoma. Sanae Hanekoma." He bowed his head. We bowed back respectfully. "Think of me as a sort of...guardian. I watch the Game, to make sure shady types don't start bendin' the rules."

"That Reaper tricked us." Neku crossed his arms.

Asami and I snorted. Mr. H did the same.

"You mean she tricked YOU."

Neku went silent again. Driz sighed, rubbing the side of Shiki's arm. Aw, they were getting comfy. Good good. My cute little brother.

"You ignored the young lady, fell into a trap, and very nearly snuffed her for good." He furrowed his eyebrows, "Then these street fighters would have smashed you to bits, am I right?"

'_Oh yeah' _Driz nodded, his serious face on again.

"If you think you can do everything yourself, you're in for some hard lessons. Now! Apologize to the young lady."

Neku brought his hand to touch his forehead, "'Scuse me?"

_Don't be a jerk._

"If you don't trust each other, you'll never get anything done, Orangeylocks!"

"Hard feelings don't make for good teamwork. You wanna survive or not? Go on!" Mr. H gave Neku a look that reminded me of my father. Jeez, men did remind me a lot of my father.

Shiki looked at Neku hopefully. Neku was still silent. It must be a thing with him. He was always so…quiet.

"... ...Sorry."

"Neku... I, um... F-forget it. I'm over it. I mean, you didn't... She made you do it, right?" Shiki gave the antisocial teen a weak smile, "And I should've stood up for myself better. So let's just put it behind us."

"There we go." I smiled.

_Problem solved! _Asami smiled sweetly.

"You took the words right out of my mouth!" Mr. H laughed. It was a hearty laugh, a healthy laugh. Unlike this unhealthy world. Driz smiled and Shiki laughed weakly. Asami's laugh was inaudible and my laugh was very quiet. Neku didn't laugh at all.

…We were a weird bunch.

"Now listen up, you five. There's only one way to stay alive in this Shibuya."

'_Trust your partner!' _Asami mouthed enthusiastically. Mr. H grinned widely at her and patted her head. She half-glared at him.

"Exactly, Trust your partner! Especially you, Phones."

""Phones"?" His eyes widened. I chuckled gently.

Mr. H gave Neku a lecture about trust. And that's when he told us about what Asami thought was his entry fee.

"You won't sync up unless you OPEN up. Talk to her! Tell her how you're feeling. Lay it on her!"-Driz raised his eyebrow-"That's the fastest way to get something across."

Shiki nodded and looked at Neku, "He's right, Neku!"

I sat down on the ledge by Hachiko. Asami joined me, as well as Neku.

"Look...I know I hold you back. I'm not that good at psychs... But still! I want to win at this Game." Shiki looked down at him. He looked back at her, focused. Man that kid could focus…

"And I want us—all—to do it together! So tell me what you're thinking! I just want to understand you!" She shouted. Neku was silent for a while. I leaned forward to get a better look at him from beside Asami.

'_Yo, Neku?' _Driz waved a hand in front of his face. Neku swatted it away, gently.

"I want to understand me, too..." He brushed his bangs out of his face, "But I don't."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He turned his head to me and Shiki (who had plopped down beside me).

"I can't remember anything but my name." Neku sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

"I woke up in the intersection with no clue how I got there, no clue why I'm part of this stupid Game. I don't know anything. Because I can't remember...anything."

'_So…like…uh,'_ Driz scratched his head. I chuckled. "Amnesia" I reminded him. _'Ah, right!' _He nodded gratefully.

"Sorry to hear it, boss...That's rough." Mr. H sighed, but perked up instantly. "OK, Phones! In honor of your growth as a human being, and a friendship saved from the rocks, I'm gonna give you a little advice, and a little gift."

_The Fusion pin! That crazy barista! _Asami giggled in my head.

"Make sure you remember it all." Mr. Hanekoma wagged a finger at him scolding-like. Driz added something profound beside Shiki, but I couldn't hear it. No, duh…

"So let's start with some Q & A. You got questions? I got answers." Mr. H puffed out his chest. I laughed lightly with Shiki. Neku got his questions in, and I found out some answers I hadn't thought I'd find.

"Drop by my place if you get the chance. I'll give you the best cuppa joe you ever had- in exchange for cash money, of course." He gave a hearty laugh.

"On Cat Street?" I asked him. He nodded.

After the questions, Mr. H stood up.

"Now, for that gift I promised..." He handed Neku the blank Fusion pin, "In honor of you two making up!"

My pact smiled at them knowingly.

'_Fusions are tight, man' _Driz smirked, _'I haven't gotten to try it out yet though. Those two kick some hardcore ass with a first level Fusion'_

I blushed and looked away, scratching the back of my neck. "We're not that good…"

_Don't be modest. You'll just make a jackass of yourself._

Shut it.

"Well, I should get going." Mr. H shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. We exchanged goodbyes and spoke to the other partners for a few minutes.

And then it happened again.

**[1] - The Heartless Shadows! 8DDDD**

**[2] - XD Johnny and the Moondogs = An 'The Beatles' band title idea from the 60s**

**[3] - Shark Tale, that was a good movie lol.**


	4. Day 3, Deja Vu

**- Day 3 – **_**Déjà Vu**_

This time, I woke up in Dogenzaka. The smell of Ramen noodles got my attention. Man I wish I could eat…

_You can eat, you know._ Asami appeared beside me.

"I can?" I asked her, hovering over my sleeping brother.

_Yeah, any stores with that symbol_—she pointed to the Noise-like symbol on a pillar nearby-_allow us to be seen. We can do shopping, it's only fair right?_

"Seems fair." I shrugged.

Driz woke with a snort. _'I smell food.' _He lifted his head. The boy was still seated on the floor, cross-legged. I chuckled.

_I can assume that all you do is eat?_

"You assume correctly." I hummed.

My cell phone went off momentarily and made me jump out of my skin. Asami jumped, and Driz fell over on the concrete.

My companion giggled at my brother, who glared in response. I slide the phone's screen into place and read aloud:

"Defeat the Master of A-East.

You have 360 minutes.

Fail, and face erasure

-The Reapers."

After the pain from the reappearing times, I flinched. I arched my shoulders and stared at the ground. Driz stared at the now fascinating concrete with me.

3 Days ago, we were killed at A-East…

I wasn't in any rush to return there. And I can assume that Driz wasn't either.

Asami groaned.

_You guys, c'mon._

I shook my head. "I think Shiki and Neku can take this one."

_Oh no you don't, remember what I said about not completing missions!_

'_Does it look like we care?'_

"I second that motion." I raised my hand in agreement.

_Pussies. _

"Fuck you." I muttered under my breath. "Let's go then." Hissing, my feet led me to the invisible wall blocking to A-East.

'_Faaaaack.' _Driz knocked his head against the invisible wall.

_Stop complaining! You guys are so lazy! _Asami furrowed her eyebrows. She was eyeing a pair of Noise in the distance.

"Y'know what, fine." I crossed my arms. "I'll follow you this time, you lead the way, and we'll listen. Agreed?"

I stuck my left hand out for her. She examined it for a while, and then scanned my face for any trace of dishonesty. The tarot-card wielder took my hand and shook it.

_Agreed. It's time to make some Noise._

'_Oh that was lame.' _Driz smirked, but got up and disappeared at the battle zone.

I couldn't see him, but I managed to pull of some attacks. When I reached into my pocket, I found that the blank pin had become accessible now. It was a crimson pin with black detailed cracks. That pin was the source of my fire? Sweet!

We cleared the wall, and on the other side, I lunged out of Asami's eyesight.

_What the-Aki!_

I had spotted the flaming orange hair of Neku. Shiki wasn't too far behind. Driz scoffed in my head.

'_She sees the emo kid.'_

'TRAITOR!' The profanity escaped my inner thoughts and out into Asami's thought territory.

_Relax, we should just work together._

Asami approached the pair. They were both speaking to 777. That's strange…

777 hasn't died…I saw him play before I died…

Driz caught on before I managed to.

'_Singer's a freakin' Reaper!'_

_Shhh…let them find out. _Asami scolded.

"Why!"

_Neku's lost his memory, right? _I nodded at her, eyebrows raised. _Let him figure things out, it'll help._

I pouted in her face. She scoffed it off and waved to the two. Shiki waved back, and Asami cringed. She definitely didn't like Shiki. Her hand twitched, and lowered when she waved back. I felt awkward with that Reaper around. One of my favourite singers was a Reaper? How ironic…

"What do you guys make of today's mission?" Shiki hummed happily. Driz shrugged, and Asami transmitted thoughts with Shiki. It was like Shiki and Asami could understand each other, and yet Asami seemed to dislike her. I watched the two of them exchange words…thoughts. My eyes flickered from each of them as they spoke.

Shiki finally turned my way. "What about you?"

I placed my palm on my chin, my index finger and thumb pointing outwards as opposed to the other folded fingers.

"Well, I think it has something to do with 777."

"You know him?" She asked curiously.

I nodded. Driz stood nearby Neku, trying to hitch up a conversation. Good luck bro…

"Asami and I think we should split up, look for 777's techie so we can see inside the concert stage." She continued. I blinked at her.

"The concert stage?"

"It's blacked out." The girl replied. I groaned. "More work!"

That made her laugh. It was good to see someone who had a healthy sense of humour. I smiled gently. It was a weak sort of smile. I haven't smiled in a long time. Happiness is good for the soul.

"Well, either way, that sounds smart."

"Great! Maybe we'll meet up with Beat and Rhyme too!"

'_Who?' _Driz perked up.

"Other players." Neku spoke softly.

_Intriguing. _Asami mused.

"Can you stick to Shiki's thoughts, please!" I whined her way. She chuckled inaudibly. Shiki giggled, and I saw my brother smile. My brother, smiling? This was too good to be true.

"Asami thinks she, Rai and I should cover this area-"

My narrowed eyes met Asami's. 'You bitch.'

"And you and Neku should check out Shibukyu."

"One problem with that." I raised my finger in protest, my eyes darting around the street.

The pair of EVIL EVIL children females looked at me, Shiki's expression clueless, and Asami's expression amused.

"If the Noise attack, we won't be able to fight, You, Neku and I." I pointed out. Asami's smirk fell.

_You bitch._

'Stop trying so hard.'

_Oh, you'll see. I'll get you two alone, just you wait._

'Fuck.'

"Oh…that'd be a problem…" Shiki placed her hand on her stomach, and then snapped her fingers with a smile. "We'll all go to Shibukyu, and you two can take the far side, we'll take the other side. We can start here first."

'YOU DEMON!'

She smirked at me from behind Shiki.

I faked a smile. "Alright then."

Shiki nodded, and Driz jumped up from the ground (where he had been seated) and walked by her side. Asami gave me a 'Hikaru/Kaoru' smile, and joined them.

Neku just stood staring at the ground.

"Well, Orangeylocks…might as well go look around."

"…" He didn't respond, but walked slowly behind me when I relocated towards Lapin Angelique. I scanned the area, was unsuccessful, and bent my knees to look at something in the window of the store. My hands were on my knees as I admired the Platform Shoes. Neku came up behind me…though I hadn't notice until he spoke.

"This is kind of stupid."

"Mhm." I hummed, not taking my eyes off the window. He shuffled around, and now stood at my side.

"What are you doing?"

"Admiring things in the window," I blinked up at him, standing up straight. "Unless there's a problem with that, Orangeylocks?"

"…" He looked away, "Nah. Do you mind?"

"What?" The head tilt was a natural reaction.

Neku brushed his right arm with his left hand, keeping his eyes away. "Not calling me that?"

"Sorry." Apologizing, I tore my heart away from the merchandise that I wanted to purchase hastily. "Is there something you'd prefer?"

"… …Neku would be okay." The male turned to face me finally. I nodded, trying my best not to stare at his eyes. "Until something better can suffice, I'll call you Neku."

He sighed inwardly. I chuckled lightly, and then crossed my arms. "Didja find anything?"

"Nope." Neku said. I looked over his shoulder at Driz, who was getting comfortable with Shiki. I felt a smile creeping on my face.

"What?" Neku sounded annoyed. I had a brain fart, and partially forgot how to function, so I just stared at him. "Huh?" My eyes widened.

"You were grinning. It was kind of annoying." He pressed his hand on his forehead.

"Excuse me?" I narrowed my eyes. "Who put a pole up your ass? I was just smiling at them!" I pointed to the scene unfolding. Shiki had tripped been caught in a cheesy manor by my younger brother.

"Hmph," Neku turned around and watched carefully. Then he turned back around and scanned me with his eyes.

"…You two are related or something?" He asked.

"Yeah." I crossed my arms.

"You don't look it." Neku stuck his hand out matter-o-factly.

"My parents are blonde. I skipped a generation." I furrowed my eyebrows.

He was quiet for a moment, and looked like he was about to speak but Asami summoned the two of us. Neku was over there faster than I, like he really didn't want to be around me. I felt sad. Sorta.

'Who cares if he doesn't like me!' Something inside me said.

'But…I'd really like him too…' Another half of me spoke.

Psh, raging teenage hormones.

"Find anything?" Shiki asked.

"Nah." I responded.

Shiki's sigh made me feel bad for not looking hard enough. "We'll find that techie." I patted her shoulder. She gave me a weak smile. I turned to Asami.

"Hey, can we go shopping later?"

She blinked. _Umm, okay?_

Neku secretly smiled behind his ninja neck.

We started to walk towards Shibukyu. I was wedged between Asami and Neku.

"D'ya think my MP3 player still works here?"

Asami threw the device into my hands. _Knock yourself out._

'_Don't tempt her.'_

Shiki laughed, and I crossed my arms and huffed very poshly. "Shut up you ungrateful Shura offspring!"

I push it one of the plug earphones…then totally remember one thing.

"Fuck."

_What?_

"I can't hear, you bitch. You could have reminded me."

The 3 of them started to laugh, minus Neku. BUZZ. KILL….

But yeah…I was totally attracted to him, I'm not gonna lie.

Shibukyu was empty too, but I sat down outside the store for a little bit and let Asami do some work for a change.

_I always do work!_

…Ignore the voiceee…

Neku stood above me.

"…Why are you so quiet?" I asked. He doesn't look at me or move a bit.

"I don't need people. I have no need to talk to them."

I chuckled. The orange-haired teen looked down at me, confused.

"You sound like my brother. He thinks he doesn't need people either, but he still has his friends."

"…I don't need friends. What's the use on counting on people?"

I paused and looked down at the ground. "Just…shut the hell up Neku."

He was taken aback. His eyebrows furrowed.

"If I counted on people, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have died if I wasn't such an idiot." I held my head in my hands. Neku didn't speak. He sat down instead.

"…How did you die?"

I didn't respond. Instead, I turned away and repeated myself. "You should count on people. The good die young. But the anti-social dies alone."

We didn't talk on the way to Dogenzaka.

The five of us, after encountering the other Players Beat (who was like a giant, gangster teddy bear!) and his partner Rhyme (she was the cutest thing!), stepped into Ramen Don. Asami had been in my thoughts and stood in between Neku and me during the walk.

"Man, screw the concert. Can't they hire another tech?"

Asami stopped mid-walk. Shiki snapped back.

"Did you guys hear that!"

"Yup. Looks like we found our man" Neku nodded.

"He picked a nice little hang out too." I added. Neku agreed.

"I'm tellin' ya, I've got stage presence! I'm not the behind-the-scenes type, OK?" The tech told the shopkeeper.

_Psh, full of himself._

'_Oh for sure.' _

"Well, just remember, son. The future is a clean slate, and you're the chalk!" The owner nodded in defiance. It seems to only get a bit through to the tech, as he bolts out the door, shocking the owner.

_Dude! He just like, took off! _Asami growled, in her fighter stance.

"What? Dammit! I don't care if I have to DRAG him back to A-East!" Neku joins the growling pack and ran after Asami. We remaining 3 followed.

I could feel the negative vibes coming off the techie when we left the ramen shop.

"Phew…that's some mad negativity." I rubbed my forehead. It was hurting my head. Driz seemed to be affect too, as he was clutching his head.

"Talk about your negative vibes! He'll never come back with us now!" Shiki cried.

"Yes, he will. He has to." Neku crossed his arms and stared at the techie nearby. Shiki did the same.

"He seems so down. I wonder what's on his mind…"

'_Let's scan 'im.' _

I thought about my brother's suggestion.

'Well, that would be a good idea. But he doesn't look so eager to co-operate.'

_He's looking like a very difficult child. _Asami said in my mind. I laughed.

'Oh yeah, totally.'

_Don't mock me._

"Who'll scan him?" My head came back to reality. Neku raised his hand parallel to the ground.

"I'll do it."

My brother and I nodded and waited for our companion to finish his mental scan. When he did, his face was troubled, almost surprised.

"Hey! He's surrounded by Noise!"

We all took out our Player pins and examined the situation.

"Hey, you're right!" I exclaimed.

Shiki gapped, but shook out of it and took over. "We should split up and take them down."

'Right." Asami mouthed. My trio nodded to the pair and ran into battle.

"Huh? What am I doing here? Oh, crap! Look at the time! I gotta get back to A-East!" The techie blinked randomly and ran off into the distance frantically. Driz just watched, his face clearly reading, 'What the fuck?'.

"Good. Now he'll head back." Shiki nodded definitely.

"And once he does, we'll have power." Neku nodded back.

'_That was whack though.'_

"How the Noise are hijacking minds?" Neku turned my brother. Whoa, look who's social now.

'_Mhm.'_ He nodded.

"Well, maybe we should make sure he gets the job done?" I suggested. They agreed, and we followed the Techie to A-East, where he was being chewed out by 777.

"You got the part, right?" 777 asked his tech.

"Umm…define 'got'…" A nervous looked formed on his already terrified face.

"You nimrod! Go get the part. Move it." The famous vocalist gritted his teeth, scaring the crap out of the tech.

"R-Right away!" He zipped out of sight. 'Chicken shit. But he should have gotten his work done.' I compromised.

_Unlike someone I know._

'Don't push it.'

'_This guy's gonna cause some more shit.' _Driz muttered. He brushed back his long, shaggy blonde hair and let his eyes fall on the majority of us. I nodded in agreement, pulling back my own hair in a similar fashion. Asami and Neku looked at us funny. Probably because of the mirror image we were creating. Shiki pulled Driz and Neku towards 777 though.

"Hey! Domo arigato for findin' the tech-Hey, have I seen you before?" The spiky-haired man furrowed his eyebrows at Driz, and peered over Shiki's shoulder to catch a glimpse of me. His frown turned into a smirk.

"And hell-ooo there, you look familiar too-"

"We found your tech, now what's up with the stage?" Neku butted in. His face was twisted into one of annoyance. Asami snickered in my head and muttered something about uneasy thoughts running through Neku's head. I wasn't paying attention, and heard something about pudding.

777 turned his head to observe Neku. His eyebrows were once again furrowed.

"Yeah, sounds like our lightings on the fritz." The singer placed his hand on his revealed, skinny hips, "The guy just went hunting for a replacement part."

"Oh…" Shiki played dumb, as if we hadn't heard the whole conversation. She was good at it too! But I wondered if they had caught on that 777 was a Reaper yet. Oh well.

777 started to cough harshly. Out of habit, I slapped his back. He stopped and nodded thanks to me with a smirk that made me uneasy and red-faced. "Nngh... I've been shouting all day long. My throat's killing me." With that, he walked toward a van parked in the alley beside A-East.

I sighed, scratching the back of my neck. Driz had gotten comfortable against the wall, flipping through my MP3 player and looking confused. That must be the hallucinations talking. Muttering something about purple pineapples, he pocketed the device and leaned up on an angle against the wall. I observed the other three. Shiki was looking at her cell phone, dazed in a trance. Asami was thinking again, as was Neku. Those two could act so similar. I bet Neku was sarcasm's best friend.

"Guess we're gonna be in the dark a while longer." Shiki broke the silence. We looked up at her.

"Think the tech's got it covered?" Neku asked, crossing his arms.

'_We should have a patrol on him.'_

_That'd be a smart idea._

"Yeah."

Shiki started to head for Shibukyu flanked by my brother, but I called after them and caught up.

"We should do a district patrol."

"B-But what about fighting the Noise?"

"Pact patrols." Neku joined in the conversation. Asami mouthed a curse to and gave me a look. I gave her an intense glance and stuck my tongue out at her when the others weren't looking.

"Alright." Shiki agreed.

"We'll take Shibukyu, and we'll send him your way if he gets..."

"Distracted?" Neku finished for me.

'_Yeah.'_

"Okay then! We'll see you around!" Shiki waved, and ran off to Dogenzaka with Neku.

I released a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

When we arrived in Shibukyu, we were face-to-face with Beat and Rhyme.

"Yo', Hot-Head!" Beat makes a bee-line with his partner toward my pact. Asami smiled their way. I had a feeling that Asami was a little too friendly towards…

I smirked.

Oh this is going to be fun.

_What…are you thinking?_

'Nothing.' I snickered.

"Hey Beat!" I gave him a fist pump. He returned it gratefully and started a conversation about decks with my brother.

"Gather any intel for the mission?" Rhyme smiled sweetly up at me and Asami.

"Not a thing. We're looking for a guy in a black t-shirt, have you seen him?" I asked her.

She thought for a moment, and shook her head. "Nope! But if there's anything else we can help you with," Rhyme gave us a closed eyed smile, "Let us know!"

"We will." I smiled back at her. Gosh, Rhyme was such a nice person to be around. She's a really sweet kid, ya know? Beat's lucky to have her as a partner. Beat seems like such a hot-head. But then again, so was I.

"We got a meme today, did you?" She looked at us again. Asami blinked at her and exchanged confused glances with me. "Not yet…?"

Rhyme giggled. "No problem, we'll pass it on to you!"

"Sweet!" I took out my cell phone, "Thanks a lot, Rhyme!"

Asami nudged me in the ribs.

"Ow, what!" I snapped to look at her.

_It only comes to you if you hear or see words related to the mission._

"Pah." I scoffed and crossed my arms. Rhyme started to laugh again. I smiled and looked down at her.

"The meme we have is 'blackout'."

"Right, thanks a bunch, Rhyme—yo' Rai!"

Said brother looked over at me confused, Beat's expression amused. "Blackout!"

The shock spread across his face when his cell phone vibrated. _'Shit! Don't scare me fool!' _He gritted his teeth and checked the meme out. I smirked and nudged Beat lightly.

"So you been causing trouble at all yet?"

"Nah, you know me!" He grinned widely. I laughed and pulled Asami over. 'Hitch up conversation, you.'

_Shut up. _

But she did as she was told. I checked out the perimeter.

There was tech guy…!

I apologized quickly to Rhyme and let my feet take me to the forgetful man.

"Man... What do I do? What was that part I need a replacement for? I can't go back and ask now..." Tech man sighed.

'No shit, he'll kick your ass.' I huffed, scratching the back of my neck.

!

'I should try imprinting!' It hit me without failure. Kind of like someone just imprinted on me. Weird.

I scanned my target thoughtfully, then took out my cell phone and threw out the topic, Blackout.

The Tech blinked. '…Blackout…?' He thought.

"…Oh yeah!" He fumbled around with something he was holding in his hands, "I gotta fix the lighting. And to do that... I need something... and I was heading to Dogenzaka to pick it up."

"So we sent them to the right place." I looked at Driz over my shoulder, who had joined me seconds earlier with Beat. My brother gave me a nod, but Beat looked very confused. I mouthed 'Phones and Shiki' to him, listening to the Tech at the same time.

"Hmm...Something... WHAT something?" He sighed, pulling at the edge of his shirt, "The guy would know. Maybe I should head back. But... 777 stands between me and him. If I go back without the part, I'm dead."

'Dammit, I wish someone would ask for me.' He thought to himself. I groaned.

'Come on Asami.'

…_What sorry?_

I found her and Rhyme nearby, and walked towards them. Driz and Beat followed, his countless curses under his breath.

"Oh hush Beat; it's just Neku's personality." I waved a hand at him poshly. He grumbled, but became quiet. "We need to go to A-East again." I explained the situation to Asami and waved to Beat and Rhyme at the same time. The other pact left to search for something in the next district.

There was a point where we found a repair man in A-East and imprinted 'Fuse' in the tech's mind. He instantly remembered the fuse needed for the lighting and ran to Dogenzaka.

We got there before he did.

In the distance, we spotted Neku and Shiki. Asami jogged over there first and we followed. This was like a game of cat and mouse, going around in circles! I hated this…but I had to survive. I had to deal with this Game.

"Tech's coming, blackout and fuse." I muttered to them. They looked at me confused, and we explained the use of memes and imprinting. At the moment, Shiki pointed over my shoulder.

"He's going inside!"

"Better follow him." Neku nodded. She waved to us as they ran off.

_Back to A-East?_

'_Hell yeah. I'm not about to lose another quest.'_

"Damn straight!" I put my fist out in front of me. Sprinting passed the stores, I half-wondered if they'd ever give us free time to do some shopping. Maybe one day? Hopefully…I'm really looking forward to doing some shopping in J of the M, Dragon Couture, and Mus Rattus.

And there's a parka at Lapin Angelique with my name on it!

I opened the door into the concert stage. Instantly, memories of 4 days ago ran through my head. Teenage rebels rocking their heads to 777's music. Young adults smoking funky things in the corners outside. VIP's screaming the band's name in the front of the room. There were multiple coloured lights going off, and something sharp hit my chest.

The scene changed into the dark alleyway where we passed out and were beaten. Stabbed and savaged. I was being shaken wildly. And it wasn't until I woke from my dreamlike state to see Asami and Shiki peering at me in the darkness.

"Hey, are you okay!" Shiki looked genuinely concerned. Neku was sitting against the wall nearby, his eyes on us. Driz was at my side, rubbing my shoulder.

"…I'm fine." I managed to mutter. They didn't buy it. I sat beside Neku to end the conversation and curiosity. He looked at me when I sat beside him, but didn't protest or pry. Neku simply rested his head against the wall and waited for the lights to turn on. Asami and Shiki were having banter a few feet away, which was apparent from Asami's thoughts of sarcasm.

"…It was here."

Neku looked over again, confused, but his head was in the same spot on the wall. His eyes followed my hands, which were furiously twiddling together.

"What?" He asked.

"…We died here 4 days ago."

The shadow covered teen glanced towards Driz when I said 'we'.

"Yeah, the both of us."

"Oh." He scratched the back of his neck.

"…We were stabbed to death." I continued. "He was psycho, the guy who did it. His eyes…were all vein-y. He said he wanted all the kids…"

Neku sat up straight and examined my face carefully.

_Come on, lovebird, we found something._

'Way to ruin the moment, jerk face!' I hissed, and stood up. Neku stood up quickly and followed.

"What'd you find?" I peered over my brother's shoulder.

'_Repairman flicked the switch; the lights still won't come on.' _

"Maybe the fuse wasn't the problem." Shiki pouted. I felt my gut twist. Suddenly, I'm doubled over, holding the pain emanating from my lower stomach. Driz stroked my back thoughtfully, holding his head and wincing.

_Are you okay! _Asami knelt down in front of my and examined my signs. I winced at her.

"No, I'm not okay…something's not right." I groaned. Shiki's looking worried at the surrounding area.

"I think you're right!"

'_Something's here, yo!'_

"Are you going to be alright?" Neku looked back at me, in his battle stance beside Shiki.

I nodded, not honestly sure at all. He nodded back, and Driz looked back at me one last time. I motioned for him to continue on, and he hesitated. But after years of listening to my gut feelings, he knew better than to hesitate. So my brother took Asami by the wrist and joined Shiki and Neku in battle.

I tried to stand, tried to see what was going on. After a minute or two the pain subsided and I could finally help them. Neku was struggling in the dark, looking around for the enemy. Asami and Driz supported each other well, and the psychic lit the area around her with very small bits of fire.

She was doing well, I thought, so I should help out Neku.

Neku kept scratching at the shadowed enemy with a Shockwave pin. I dashed into step with him. He looked back at me when my back pressed up against his.

"What's going on? I can't see the bastard…"

"Can't catch what you can't see?" I laughed half-heartedly. He sighed, frustrated.

"I'll help you out, but you have to listen, okay?" I shot a flame from my palm and lit up a path. It missed the hastily moving target, of course.

"…Fine." The orange-haired teen stood at my side and kept his pins close.

I pulled my new pin from my pocket and got ready to light up the place. From my pocket, I chucked a large amount of powder in the center of the concrete and ignited it. The center of the room exploded into a mass of flame for a short few seconds, the faces of Neku (and Asami in the distance) lit with an orange glow. The shock showed on his face, both at the dancing flames and the large Noise in the far corner.

It was a huge bat, purple in majority of colour. The flames died within seconds and we were both engulfed in darkness again.

_Driz says that they're dealing with some Noise in the other zone!_

"Tell him to take out all the Noise, maybe then we can see!"

As if on cue, the lights above illuminated the space and I flinched at the amount of light entering my pupils. Neku grunted beside me, bringing an arm to cover his eyes.

The huge bat giant freak thing hissed at us and slashed at my shoulder. I jumped back.

"Ow! Damn it!" I froze its left wing. It screeched and trashed around while Neku closed in to do some damage. As I smashed at the left wings and threw some punches and kicks, I admired just how good with psychs he was.

I was thrown back at one point and had to use my left hand to vault onto my feet again. All my pins fell out of my pocket and the lights went out again.

"Crap! Hey Neku!"

I couldn't hear him respond; instead I felt a grab at my arm from behind. I screamed, thinking that the bat had gotten a hold of me. Neku turned me around to face him and held my arms down, since I had started to thrash about trying to punch 'the bat'.

"Stop!" He hissed. I blinked at him, and Neku let go of me hastily. "What's wrong?" The male scratched the back of his neck, edgy on the battle at hand.

"Watch your step, my pins are all over the floor."

"Nice job."

"It's not my fault!"

_STOP IT YOU TWO! I'm trying to concentrate here!_

"…Sorry!" I yelled into the empty space, getting a grunt and a 'thump' of Asami most likely falling in return.

The lights came back on and I fumbled to get my pins again while Neku blocked the home front. I stood up and helped him, continuously igniting the bat and stunning it.

It disappeared on our third try.

"Geez! Talk about a heart attack! But...that was the master, right?" Shiki reappeared.

Neku looked down at his hand and gapped. "Nope! Clock's still ticking!"

I glanced down at my hand as well. "No way!"

_Then...where's the master!_

'_Shit! We're out of time!'_ Driz cursed.

Asami looked over my shoulder, and everyone turned around.

Behind us was Beat and Rhyme. Beat had a hold of a golden bat. The two of them erased the Noise, and then walked up to us.

_Beat! Rhyme!_

"You guys!" Shiki smiled, laughing gratefully.

"Yo, looks like we made it." Beat grinned and I punched his shoulder playfully.

"Yes sir, mister! The timer's gone. Right?" I looked at the others. They nodded.

The tech and the repairman caused a commotion about the lights. Surely they were fixed by now.

"This place is gonna fill right up. We should step outside for now." Rhyme smiled sweetly. We followed her outside.

The two gave us an explanation first before we asked questions. I hummed a famous McCartney tune quietly while they did so.

"Oh, so taking out the giant bat wasn't enough! Whoops. Good thing you two came along. We owe you!" Shiki gave the pair a closed eyed smile.

"Man... You five shoulda gathered more info, yo. I'm talkin' to you, Phones!"

Neku gave him a raised eyebrow. I giggled lightly, and Rhyme did so at a higher volume, a nice cover-up for me.

"What, Rhyme?" Beat snapped down, his eyes softened at the sight of his partner. Was it just me…or was Rhyme looking a bit like Beat to me?

"Stop trying to act tough, Beat. We didn't have all the info, either! You wouldn't have found the little golden bat if it wasn't for them. Know why?"

"Let me guess. We had to beat the big golden bat first." Neku scoffed.

"That would have been a smart idea." I added.

"Bwaaah! Yeah... You act like you got the answers now, but you was freakin' out before!" Beat caught his cool before it left him. This didn't take long. I snickered and was elbowed in the ribs by Asami. Oh she was gonna get it…!

"So were you, Beat."

"Bwaaah! Whose side you on, yo?"

Shiki and Rhyme giggled. I started to laugh myself, along with Driz and a smiling Asami.

"Least I got the job done, aight?" Beat pouted, brushing his arm.

Neku looked up from the floor, and he laughed. Like, very very lightly, but he laughed.

"Hey, I heard that, yo! Who said YOU could laugh at me?"

"Now come on Beat, be nice." I shook a finger at him scolding.

"Hey look, the concert's starting."

I felt a pang of regret in my stomach. The sadness etched into my face, and Driz walked across the circle to stand next to me. Beat was about to ask, but Asami brushed over to us and Neku gave him a look.

"Whatcha lookin' at Phones! I wasn't gonna talk to you-"

"Shut up. It's a personal thing." Neku hissed. Beat caught on and hushed. Shiki muttered as we passed her. "How come we were able to talk to him? You know, 777."

"'Cause he's a Reaper."

_Ah, so he caught on. Smart kid._

I nodded. "See you guys tomorrow…"

Rhyme waved to us, and Beat nodded. Neku and Shiki were in an intense conversation about the Reaper.

I felt horrible. A-East had a huge impact on me now. And it was my favourite place when I was alive too! Damn it.

_Let's go shopping, keep your mind off of things._

I felt a smile creep onto my face. "Okay."

Driz groaned. _'I'll wait outside. Buy me something cool.'_

At Shibukyu, we stepped into the Mus Rattus store. I knew that Driz had a love for Mus Rattus.

It felt so good to be around alive people. Asami stuck close by. Since she was temporarily mute, and I was temporarily deaf, I guess we had to. I was checking out these classical jeans when Shiki and Neku joined us. I didn't notice them until Asami started to mutter in my head again.

I nodded to them and continued my business.

Someone tapped my shoulder. I looked back and was greeted by someone who worked there.

…

I tilted my head.

He had short blonde hair, wore a hoodie, and had brown eyes. I felt my face turn red when he gave me a confused look. He laughed and shook his head.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" He asked, rubbing his arm.

"N-No! I just…spaced out for a while. It's a habit of mine."

The male laughed. I instantly felt stupid. Don't blow it!

"Hey, what's your name? I haven't seen you around…" He started, and Asami's thoughts started to wave into my mind.

_Ooooo, I can feel some jealous vibessss from a little emo boy. _

"Akiko, Akiko Shura." I smiled politely. I ignored Asami again. Her constant penetrating of my mind could get annoying sometimes.

"Cool, it's nice to meet you," He scratched his arm, "I'm Tak Kimura. It's a real pleasure to meet you."

Tak motioned to the merchandise I was looking at. "Do you want some help with those?"

"Possibly." I teased. Hey, just because I was unpopular, didn't mean I could flirt if I wanted to. He turned red, but chuckled lightly. Asami scoffed.

_Stop flirting with him._

'Shut up. I deserve to.'

_Whatever._

Shiki had pulled me over to check something out behind the rack. I stared at the backpack on the wall. I blinked and looked around for Shiki. She was hiding behind the rack, staring at the one boy on the other side of the store. My partner was crouched down low to the ground and muttering to herself.

"What are you doing?" I sighed.

She yelped and looked up at me. Shiki scratched her nose and muttered something about flirting.

"You can flirt on your own time." I stared back at the wall. God, girls.

"Not me, her."

"Who?" I responded boredly. Did I care? Not really. But might as well flatter her. It shuts her up most of the time.

"Akiko."

I tried not to turn around too quickly. No no, I didn't care that she was flirting with another guy…

Wait…what?

Why would I even consider caring?

…Hey…you're getting to close to her.

Back off.

No, I didn't say get closer…no…!

Shiki kept looking back at me. I felt something heating up my body. My blood, boiling? No way. That's impossible.

I don't care for people…No no no no no do NOT help her get another size.

Shiki took me over to them. I protested, really not comfortable with being around that 'Tak' guy. I wanted to…rip his head off.

Akiko saw Shiki and I approach, and her eyes darted from Tak to us.

"Oh, hey guys!" She smiled at us. I nodded.

Tak looked back at us. I shot daggers at him with my eyes. "Hey there! Can I help you?"

"Nah, just saying hi!" Shiki smiled politely.

'Psh, yeah right.' I brushed my orange bangs out of my face.

Shiki pranced over to Asami leaving me with Tak and Akiko.

I REALLY didn't want to be here. God damn it Shiki…!

Tak blinked at me. "Can I help you?"

"No." I responded coldly.

Akiko looked at me. "Neku, don't be like that."

Tak blinked at her this time. "You know him?"

"Oh yeah, he's a good friend of mine."

Ouch.

"Oh, I thought he was a boyfriend or something." Tak chuckled. Akiko giggled quietly. "Nah, he's my friend Neku."

Double Ouch.

"Nice to meet you, Neku." Tak smirked at me. Oh he could see it in my face…must look positive…!

"Like wise." I put on a fake smile. Ugh…I felt so weird. Akiko gave me the weirdest look. This was out of character, crap!

It was around then that I started learning how to care about people. How to get them.

And I learned that jealousy's a bitch. And a pain in the ass.

…I'm going to kick his ass.

"Today six Players were erased, sir."

An older man crossed his arms, the shadows coming over his face. A smirk spread across the middle-aged looking face.

"Six? My, my..." He adjusted the sunglasses over his eyes. His assistant held a clipboard to her chest, rolling her eyes secretly when he wasn't looking.

"That puts us at the 50% erased mark, one full day earlier than expected."

Shades chuckled quietly and ran a hand over his desk thoughtfully. "Higashizawa's doing nicely, then."

The assistant cleared her throat professionally. "Yes, sir. That concludes today's report. We have our regular meeting tomorrow. Same time as always, sir."

"Right. Good work. Heh..." Shades paused at his desk, examining the red pins staring back at him. He started to laugh harshly.

"Is something amiss, sir?" His assistant lowered the clipboard to her side.

Shades brushed at his face, and rested his hand on his forehead with a smirk.

"No, no... It's just- I have a feeling that tomorrow's Game will be very entertaining."


	5. Day 4, Make or Break

_**Day 4 – Make or Break**_

"Tick, tock, Minamoto. You're 9 minutes and 42 seconds late." Konishi sighed in anguish. The 18-year-old male started to laugh, stepping into the room in a sexy manner. He readjusted the hat on his head, and smirked at the Shade guy's busty assistant.

"Tick, tock, yourself, Konishi." Minamoto laughed. "I can think of a decillion better ways to spend our time...than by having MEETINGS." The young adult turned to face the skinny man hiding in the shadows, "Right, Megs?" he continued.

"You will address him as "Mr. Kitaniji."" Konishi hissed. Mr. Kitaniji held up a hand to silence her, and brushed away some of his hair with the same hand when he retrieved it. "It's fine. Are we all here?" He pressed. There was a nod from each of them.

"Hey, Megs- Who's the bulldozer?"

Megumi blinked at him, the amusement drained from his face. "Meet Higashizawa—this session's Game Master. He'll be handling my affairs in my stead."

The large man nodded to Minamoto, who had sweat dropped by now. "You do me a great honor, sir."

He held a fist the size of the chair comforter in front of himself with a passion in his eyes. "Watch! I will turn this week's fracas into a fricassee!"

Sho snorted, chuckling under his breath. "You planning to erase them, or EAT them?"

Megumi mocked his laughter, and stared at him seriously, "Yes, crack your jokes. But his skill is proven."

"Oh yeah, sure." He muttered quietly.

"That's right. Higashizawa excels- in tactics, intel, willpower, decisiveness, performance, his Player erasure rate-"

"Volume?" Sho suggested to the list. Konishi narrowed her eyes, slit, at him. Sho smirked at his own mathematical pun.

"He surpasses our expectations on every count. A man of sound judgment like Mr. Kitaniji would not choose him otherwise. And he knows how to cooperate unlike some-"

"Cooperation is garbage. Speaking of which, I'm out. This is subtracting from my arts and crafts time."

Sho had thrown the door open and slammed it behind him by the time Konishi had reacted.

"Wait just a- Mr. Kitaniji hasn't spoken yet!"

"Let him do what he wants." Megumi furrowed his well-kept eyebrows. How he has time to manage his hygiene with these Games, no one knows.

Konishi adjusted the glasses on her face with disgust, "Yes, sir..."

"Now, then...Higashizawa. You're doing very well."

Higashizawa bowed his head quickly in respect. "Thank you, sir!" His voice boomed, Konishi winced.

"Over half the Players have been erased." Higashizawa continued, bringing his burly head back up to look at his boss, the Conductor. "The plates have been licked..." A crazed, wild smirk smeared across his face, "Dessert is imminent." He mused. Megumi smirked and gave an evil grin to Konishi.

"Excellent. I look forward to it. I spoke to the Composer about your promotion." Shades turned back to Higashizawa, "We are in agreement."

"Thank you very much, sir."

"I feel you are ready...but, I have one condition." Megumi pressed his glasses up farther on his nose. Higashizawa swallowed hastily and nodded furiously.

"What, sir? Name it."

"I expect you, as my proxy in the Game, to leave no Player unerased."

"Fear not, sir. The proof is in the pudding. The pudding...of their doom."

God, the word 'pudding' has never sounded more disgusting since it left that fat man's lips.

I brushed away a hand stroking my face.

…Waaaaait. Stroking?

I flung my body upwards and smashed my head into that of my brother's. He muttered curses under his breath and gives me a signature glare.

'_You and your freaking toadstools! STOP SLEEPING ON THEM!'_

…Yeah. I don't know either. I looked up at the Players surrounding me. Shiki waved to me and I waved back.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Just people watching."

I sweat dropped. Rai just shook his head.

Has anybody NOT people watched at an airport?

"Shibuya's so diverse…"-Shiki rose a finger to tap her cheek with-"Everybody's so different, they all have their own story…"

"And scanning 'em all at once, it's like havin' every radio channel on at the same time." Beat said.

"No other town compares." Rhyme smiled. I smiled back at her, and lifted myself from my spot on the ground to stand next to her.

"Yeah…I guess it's sorta like a battlefield." Shiki nodded in agreement to me. Neku's head lowered, his eyes a solid blue. He must be deep in thought again.

"…but man…all these people and they can't even see us yo."

"Makes you sad, huh?" Rai sighed. I linked my arm with his and squeezed his forearm with reassurance. A small smile formed at the corner of his lips.

…Wait a minute.

"Where's Asami?" I turned to face the other Players.

They all blinked at me, then each other, and shrugged.

"She didn't wake up here!" I blurted. Rhyme shook her head sadly.

"We gotta find her! She could be erased by now! What if the Reapers have her! Oh my god what are we gonna-"

"Calm down." Neku uttered. I glanced in his direction, my eyes widened and full of panic. "I'm sure she's okay."

WHO IS HE TO TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! ASAMI CAN'T SURVIVE BY HERSELF!

…if she was here she would totally erase me for saying that.

…oh well.

I felt the blood boiling in my body start to cool. A heavy sigh escaped through my lips, and I slowly became neutral again.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

"Mission time guys." Rai pulled his cell phone out. I did the same, holding the device gingerly in my cold hands.

**Reach Towa Records.**

**No Time Limit.**

**Fail, and face erasure.**

**-The Reapers**

"Nothing we can't handle yo!" Beat clenches his fist in front of him with a determined smirk.

They took the time to read the message…some of them furrowed their eyebrows (notably, Shiki) and some just read it over without a change of emotion (notably, Orangeylocks).

"No time limit?" Rai questioned.

"That's definitely too simple." Rhyme's eyebrows knitted together in a state of worry. I patted her back softly, and thought for a moment.

"Well I guess that means we don't need to team up then."

"Damn…I was ready for a good scrap yo…" Beat clenched his teeth and crosses his arms with a pout.

There was an awkward aura in the air, but Beat quickly broke it with a whoop. 

"I jus' got the greatest idea!"

I blinked. Beat was…actually thinking? He had actually come up with an idea? That's something new, but for the passed 3 days I've learned plenty of new things, so this won't hurt.

"Shoot, Skater." I pointed my fingers to him, gun-style. Shiki giggled as did Rhyme.

"Wha' if we all race to Towa Records?"

He seemed pleased with his idea, his chest puffed out and a proud smirk on his face. Honestly, it wasn't that bad of an idea. Rai got really excited about it and pumped his fists up in the air.

"That's what I'm talking about! It's time for some REAL fun!"

"You're on then, Skater Boy." I smirked at him, lightly punching his shoulder, "Don't think we'll go easy on you, Rai and I are quick and agile man."

Neku scoffed and turned his head, his right hand on his left arm.

"C'mon Rhyme! Let's book it!" Beat took off before Rhyme could protest. She sighed, and reach out toward the direction he ran in. "W-Wait Beat!"

"Heh heh, he's sure has a lot of energy huh?" Shiki held her hands behind her back.

"Yeah. He keeps me on the ball." Rhyme sweetly smiled up at her. It shocked me with Rai tugged on my arm.

"Let's go, Aki! We gotta beat these dead beats." His face was determined.

"Hey!" Shiki laughed. I chuckled and took off running after him.

"See you at the finish line slow pokes!" I waved back at them.

Rai and I were at the Scramble Crossing when he suddenly stopped me.

"Aki-chan?" He tugged on my elbow. I turned my head to look at my younger brother.

"Mm?"

"Can we go to AMX…?" His eyes pleaded quietly with mine. I was sort of surprised, but nodded softly and patted his head. "Yeah of course! I thought you wanted to win the race though?"

"Screw the race, we'll still win anyway. I just wanna check something out."

I nodded at him. We made our way through the Center Street Entrance and arrive at the AMX district. Rai seemed to be deep in thought. He was also muttering about how difficult the purple horses make it when he's trying to see the way he was going. I sighed outwardly. That brother of mine…

I examined some of my favourite artists when we were in the store. My fingers flipped album over album. I smiled when I passed by albums that I knew and had back home. Abbey Road…American Idiot…Appeal to Reason…Armageddon…ah ha!

Proudly I glanced at the new self-titled Avenged Sevenfold CD. A lot of people dislike that fact that I like their music…but they can go to hell.

Or at least this Game. I chuckled to myself.

While I looked at the songs on the new CD, my sapphire blue eyes wandered around the shop. People who went to school with me were scattered around the store. My brother was on the other side of the next aisle.

When I realized what he was really looking at, my heart tore a little.

His girlfriend was happily flirting with this other boy, holding his hand and whispering sweet nothings into his ear. She pulled back some of her strawberry blonde hair, and briefly scanned the store. When she had finished, she returned to her previous stance. However, when she did, she snapped her head to look at the aisle my brother had been in. He had disappeared, and reappeared beside me. I looked at him with a sad expression as I bought what I had in my hands and exited the store.

"Things will be okay, Rai." My hand ruffled his blonde hair playfully. He grunted as a response. Damn…what was I going to say in response…how am I going to convince him?

"I didn't like her anyway. She was a slut." With my nose raised in the air, I strutted hotly beside him. This made my beloved brother laugh. "I guess so…"

"Shiki is much better for you! Or even Asam-"

"Alright I know."

"I'm telling you, I think Shiki's really into you…maybe when we beat the Ga-"

"I GET IT AKI."

"Sheesh, you didn't have to yell." I pouted, crossing my arms and approached the Shibu Department Store.

Not to far away, Shiki was yelling at Neku about something.

"Who care's? It's just a button." Neku blinked at her.

"Off." The pair of brown eyes narrowed, slowly planning the demise of it's target.

"What?" Neku's face rose in colour, his arms out in protest.

"Your shorts. Take them off! I'll fix the button."

My ears perked. How tempting that is. Maybe we shouldn't help them. I kind of like the idea of not helping them.

_We're helping them. Dork._

Shut up Driz.

_Make me._

"Are you high! I'm not taking my pants off in front of you-in the middle of the street!" Neku's face was priceless, the way his face changed a completely different shade of red and the way his mouth stayed agape.

"Oh grow up. What, are you, going commando? You're invisible! No one's watching." Shiki's eyes light up at the sight of us.

"YOU'RE watching."

"Hey guys!" I waved at them eagerly. Neku buried his face deep into his shirt to hide the rising colour.

Shiki smiled at us, and then she snapped her head to Neku and growled evilly in a tone that scared the pants of ME. "Now! Pants! Off!" She hastily lunged for his shorts.

"N-No! Dooooon't!" He protested, wrestling against her grip.

My brother covered my eyes at the sight. I hissed at him, but didn't mind my brother protecting my innocence. There was yelping and hissing and loud protests, but Driz finally let his hands down and everything seemed normal again.

"All done." Shiki smiled.

Neku looked like his eyes couldn't expand any further. With his life, flashing through his eyes….scarred, for the rest of his life.

He had just been indirectly raped.

"That was fast, you carry a whole freakin' sewing kit with you?" Driz smiled sweetly at Shiki. She blushed and looked away from him with a smile.

"Just a needle and thread, they come in handy. I like sewing…hey!"

I looked up from the concrete at her.

"If you two need anything mended, let me know, 'kay?" Shiki clapped happily.

My eyes grew wide, and then I shook my head. "I'm good, thanks."

We continued on with them. On the way, we found a man having trouble promoting his pin for his boss. I had a deep dark feeling that the conversation would be very important in the future…

A Reaper blocked our path to Towa Records when we reached Cadoi City. So we hastily erased the Noise. The way we battle was with ease. When I battled, Neku was always in the same zone as me. Shiki and Rai were always in the other zone. That's lucky for them I guess.

"Hey, isn't that Beat and Rhyme?" Driz pointed in the distance. We walked up to the pair.

"The hell you been, yo! This is a race!"

"I don't think they're trying much." I pointed my thumb to Neku and Shiki.

"You're on your own there." Neku nodded. Shiki just gave him a disappointed look.

"Ain't you angry that you lost? Don't you wanna WIN!"

"Why are you waiting for us if you think winning's better?" Driz crossed his arms and gave him an eyebrow raise.

Beat turned red and stuttered, but caught his cool. "We…we was just…"

Rhyme giggled.

"Beat said we should let you catch up."

"Bwaaah! Rhyme, can it yo!" He covered his face.

We laughed, "Ya big softie!" I hugged him to me. He hugged back, sort of confused, but enjoyed the affection.

Driz and Shiki chuckled at Beat's face. Rhyme giggled again. Neku just looked away, hiding his somewhat twisted face from the green emotion rising in his throat.

When we ran into the Towa Records district, Beat ran way ahead of us.

Rhyme chased after him, and we chased after Rhyme.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the red pulsing symbol form slowly at Beat's feet.

"B-Beat!" I cried.

Rhyme had seen this before I did, and her face twisted from her smile to a worried frown. The distress on her face deepened with each step, and on full throttle she pushed Beat out of the way.

As she did so, the large Shark-like noise bounded out of the ground. His mouth was wide open.

In slow motion, it seemed like hours. But in a matter of seconds, the Shark's jaw of death clammed down on Rhyme.

And the girl disappeared, the bell necklace on her neck falling to the ground.

Beat looked up, his eyes widened, his breath uneven, scanning my face and Rai's for any reassurance.

He didn't get any.

"Wh-wh-what happened!" Shiki and Neku stood behind us, dumbfounded. I felt my heart pain, so slowly I placed a hand on my heart and yelped. Driz glared at the Reaper whom finally reappeared.

"Damn, there goes my erase streak! He was suppose to be number 16…" The orange-haired male sighed, pressing his bean paste to his lip and glared at us Players.

"Reapers?" Neku breathed.

"You got it." The Reaper grinned evilly. "I'm Koki Kariya, this is Uzuki Yashiro. Now that we're friends-"

"Hey!"

We all looked at Beat, who had lifted himself from the concrete with the necklace laced in his fingers.

"What did you do with Rhyme?"

Pinky, whom I was REALLY starting to hate, scoffed and placed her glove hand to her forehead. "Um…hello? You just saw. She's gone. Erased. Noise food. Game over."

"W-What!" I gapped, Rai hissed beside me.

"No…Rhymes gone…for good?" Shiki held her hands in front of her stomach.

"You… You did this!" Beat clenched his fist and waved it at Kariya.

"Duh, it's our job, isn't it?" He smirked, looking up through his glasses.

"Job! What job! The only thing I saw was murder!" I spoke up, my voice shaken.

How…how could Rhyme be gone! In seconds she had become another victim to the Game?

"You… You erased Rhyme! Give her back, yo, or you'll pay!"

Kariya frowned, and waved a hand to Beat. "Ooh, scary. Go on, Skulls. Be the star of your little soap opera." Kariya sucked on the lollipop carefully, "But Skulls, Jr. isn't gone because of us. She's gone because of you. You failed to protect your partner."

The male Reaper smirked, and shrugged his shoulders softly.

"So face reality. We hunt Players down. You KNEW that."

Beat stuttered, and then was quiet.

"He didn't know that, you jerk!" Shiki butt in, finally gaining her composure.

"Well, Skulls, Jr. knew. That's why she protected him. Gave her life for him." Kariya barked back. Shiki shrunk into her stance, defeated.

"Rhyme is gone…because of me…?" The skater rubbed her forehead, his eyes tearing up. His left fist was clenched tightly.

"Awww… Boo hoo. But don't worry. You won't suffer for long, hee hee!" Uzuki lifted her hands into the air and summoned plenty of red Noise symbols to the battlefield.

"Grr…right…they can make Noise." Driz growled, raising his arms up into a battle stance. He pulled his drum sticks from his pockets and raised them up.

"We'd loooove to stay and take you on ourselves…but attacking Players is strictly against the rules. They'll take care of you though, no worries!" Uzuki motioned her hands to the Noise and cackled. I growled low in my throat and jumped to Driz's side.

"Buh-bye." The female winked, and left.

Beat chased after them and screamed aloud. "HEY! Get back here you son of a…" He lowered his head…the tears building up being hidden from us. He was totally defeated. "Dontchu run from me! Dontchu run, yo… Don't…"

I felt a soft hand on my arm, and looked to my left to become face to face with Neku.

"Hey, we gotta get rid of this Noise."

"Definitely."

"Yeah…otherwise…" Shiki's eyes were shadowed.

"C'mon, it's time to dance!" Driz determinedly curled up his fists.

"Let's start with the smaller noise then!" Neku nodded confidently.

Back to back with Neku, the battle started. I could hear every movement that Driz made, and the lightning he formed.

I soon thought of Asami, how much I missed her nagging in my head…and her help…

Where are you Asami…?

"Akiko, behind you!" I heard my zone buddy calling me.

Quickly I turned and ignited the small wolf Noise with flames, waiting for it to disappear into nothingness.

I smashed a couple of frogs with my fists and ran passed Neku to roundhouse another wolf. He nodded to me with a rare smile and continued with his battle. A wolf pounced on my back and I hissed at it. With ease I threw a bunch of powder at it and raised my Hell's Frozen Over pin and froze the poor creature before smashing the ice to bits.

I felt immense power pulsing through my veins from battling in time with Driz. I was ready for a conjoined attack. Slowly I focused my thoughts on my brother. I focused on him and only him.

"Driz! It's fusion time!"

I saw his transparent figure forming at the end of my zone. He gave me a smirk and patted down some of his static-y blonde hair.

"_**Wake up Aki!"**_

"_**I'm up!"**_

I reached forward and grazed fingers with him. I felt the large amount of electricity building in my body. It was inhumanly possible for the amount of electric current to flow through a body without killing it.

Good thing we were dead!

My fists gave off large bolts. I ran forward and smashed each Noise with a large amount of amperes. Driz channeled the current through his drumsticks and struck the Noise down. Everything was dark, and soon everything was over.

The battle with the smaller Noise was over.

"There. That just leaves the big one." Neku panted, tiring easily from the battle with the Noise.

"Right."

"Dontchu touch it, yo." Beat butted in.

We all glanced at him, trying to catch our breaths.

"This one's mine. This bastard took Rhyme from me. Get in my way and I'll knock you right outta here!" The skater waved a hand at us, the threatening looking on his face scared me, so I started to back away.

"Don't be stupid!" A voice cried.

Us Players all looked back to see Mr. H.

"You're down a partner. How do you think you're going to take on the Noise?" His older-aged eyes narrowed, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Like I care! Butt out, yo! I gotta avenge Rhyme!"

I placed a soft hand on his shoulder and nodded to him definitely. "Don't worry about it, we'll take care of it. Go with Mr. H!"

"No man…" He uttered, lowering his head.

"Don't waste her sacrifice, go with Mr. H. He'll probably help you and save your life yo." Driz joined in, forcing lightning through his drumstick in preparation.

Mr. H nodded curtly. "I can!"

"But-"

"We can handle this." Neku said.

"She was our friend too." Shiki frowned.

"Ahhhhh…" Beat scratched the back of his neck.

"Listen. You may be alone. But there's still a role that only you can play. I'll tell you what that is, but you have to live!" Mr. H pleaded, his brown eyes determined.

Beat was frozen for a few minutes, while the Noise bashed and bruised us up. I blocked it haphazardly, falling onto my back side neck to Shiki and Neku.

"…Grrraaaaaah! …Fine. But you better kill that bastard dead. Avenge Rhyme!"

"Heck yeah we will!" I shouted, gritting my teeth at the beast.

We entered the fray.

We bashed and thrashed the beast, but it was taking so long with the smaller Noise…

"Listen, Neku!"

Neku looked my way over his shoulder, still using a penetrating bullet psych.

"Tell Shiki to take down the smaller Noise with Driz, we'll take on the bigger one."

Neku's eyes were still on me. He was mulling the plan over in his head. But the orange-haired teen nodded swiftly and rushed to my side.

The smaller Noise were disappearing faster then before with the new plan. Neku and I blasted the large Noise with pyrotechnic psychs. I bashed with my fists and kicked with my feet, but was thrown around multiple times. Neku flew passed my head one time, which I snapped back to look at him.

"You okay Neku!" I shouted.

"Ughhh…" Neku got up and rubbed his sore head. "I'm oka-"

I missed the rest of his sentence…since the Noise had smashed me hard and I flew into a lamppost.

A few more blasts and the Noise gave out a loud shriek of agony. It disappeared, and I tried to open my eyes. Neku was soon at my side, lifting me by the forearm.

"Are you okay?" His eyes searched mine, genuinely concerned. I rubbed the back of my head and hissed at the pain.

"I should be fine…but my head hurts like a bitch."

His large hands moved to the back of my head. "Bend your neck."

I did as he asked and he examined the back of my head.

"You should be fine." He nodded, more like he was convincing himself than me.

"Dr. Sakuraba." I smirked. He scoffed but smiled weakly.

Shiki jogged over to us with Rai. "So…I guess we're alone again." She held her hands behind her back. Neku nodded, pushing his face back into his shirt.

"You guys think Beat'll be okay?"

"Oh yeah." I smiled at Shiki. "He's with Hanekoma. He'll be excellently excellent."

"But he only had a few minutes to live…" Driz sighed. I glared at him. "Don't be so pessimistic."

"So what were we supposed to do?" Neku looked away.

"I dunno. Why couldn't we save Rhyme?" Shiki frowned.

"Because we couldn't. That's how it was meant to be." He retorted, rubbing his arms. Rai furrowed his eyebrows.

"How can you just write her off like that! Don't you care? Aren't you SAD! We could have done something!"

Oh no. I felt a fight coming on…I stayed quiet, like I always did when people I knew fought.

"Yeah? Like what?" Neku snapped back.

Shiki didn't respond.

Neku stared down into his shirt. "…You see? See why teaming up is a dumb idea?"

"How dare you! You think NOT teaming up would have saved her? How can you be so COLD? Beat and Rhyme were our friends! What happened to her… We're all responsible! It was our fault, too…"

"Then who needs 'em."

"Huh?" Shiki gasped.

"Guys honestly, we shouldn't be fighting. Let's just make up like friends and get on with our liv-"

"Who needs friends!" Neku quickly interrupted me with his shout.

"Excuse me!" I stared at him. He was unbelievable!

"They laugh and talk like idiots and pretend to agree with you-so you end up caring about them…exposing yourself…getting HURT… Screw it!" As he spoke each word, I could see how hurt he got. "We're better off without them! You want people in your way? Dragging you down? I don't! And I never said we were friends. You did!"

"Are you saying we drag you down, Neku…?" I stared down, down casting my eyes. The angry dripped in my voice. I felt Neku's stare on me, unable to make words.

"Neku! We're your friends. So is Rhyme-" Shiki's begs and pleads didn't change his mind.

"Back off! No one's my friend. Least of all you. I just stay with you to survive."

I felt like I was hit by a bus.

"Oh is that it then Neku! All we are to you is a ticket out! All you want is to get this game over with so you can go back to your petty little EMO, ANTISOCIAL LIFE!" I screamed. No more by-standing fights. Rai narrowed his eyes and patted my shoulder. I shrugged it off, angry, hands almost on fire.

Neku cowered a bit, not much. His fiery eyes met mine, and switched to Shiki's when she spoke up again.

"Neku…How c-could you… You didn't feel anything when Rhyme was erased? Not even a little sad? That's inhuman… You're inhuman, Neku. No better than those Reapers!"

_No better than those Reapers…_

End of Day 4.


	6. Day 5, Despair

**Day 5, Despair**

I lifted my head up, feeling the intense pain there from yesterday's battle.

Right…yesterday…

I'm never talking to Neku again. What an unsocial brat…

"Hmm…I guess we better get cooking." I looked around for Rai, seeing him not to far away leaning against a store. Nooging him, I sat next to my brother with my knees propped up and my elbows across them.

"How are you feeling Aki-chan?" He tilted his head to look at me. I shrugged; the forlorn look in my eyes must have been enough to tell him not to ask further. I felt betrayed and stabbed in the back. Maybe this was because I wasn't his partner. The fact still stands that I'm not looking forward to meaning up with him anytime soon.

"We haven't got the mission yet…are you going to be alright?" Driz knelt down to my eye level.

"…" I didn't respond, just looked at him.

"Jeez, your spirit is seriously broken." He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Well whatever, just don't back down in the fight, okay? Give it your 110%."

I nodded and crossed my arms.

I just want to get out of this game.

"Any sign of Asami…?" I peered over to him. He looked relieved when I finally spoke. Rai shook his head. I sighed deeply.

"Oh well…where are we?"

"Cadoi City." He nodded his head to the sign hanging on the store.

"Makes sense." I rolled my eyes. My brother laughed and poked me a bit in an attempt to get me to laugh. Luckily the vibrations of our cell phones stopped the plan.

Quickly I pulled out my cell phone, wanting nothing more then to chuck it away.

**Free Spain Hill from the Noise. **

**You have 200 minutes.**

**Fail, and face erasure.**

**-The Reapers.**

We both flinched and grunted with the pain that came with our countdown-to-erasure clocks. I looked down at the familiar red digits on my palm. With anger and frustration, I clenched my hand closed and grit my teeth. Opening my eyes, I looked up at my brother and nodded with the evilest look in my eyes.

"Let's go beat Phones."

"A-Alright." He hesitated. I'm guess he feels I don't mean it.

Big mistake.

We fought of Noise viciously to get to Molco and clear the Reaper's wish.

When we reached Molco, I heard the familiar name that almost made me fall over.

"Come on Asami, Spain Hill!" a voice said.

Driz and I jumped into action at the same time. When I spotted the dark brown hair of our pact member I almost cried my heart out. Driz tackled her from behind.

Her face was completely and utterly shocked, but she quickly returned the hug.

"Asami! You dope! Where have you been?" I glomped her. She took her fist and noogied me. I suppressed the urge to strangle her.

_I had to get a new pact member, I woke up in the scramble crossing yesterday with the mission 'Form a legal pact, you have 60 minutes. Fail and face erasure.' So I was so confused._

Out of no where, I was tackled into a hug by the male we failed to notice standing with Asami. She rolled her eyes but smile softly. Rai raised an eyebrow HIGH, almost into his hair.

I squirmed and twisted in the person's grip, looking up to notice his blue hair and brown eyes. He let go of me with a smirk, before he noticed the confusion on my face. The smirked dropped into a deep frown.

"Akiko? Are you alright…why are you giving me that look…?"

"Who's the fruit cake?" Rai snorted. Asami whacked him in the back of the head, which he proceeded to rub after muttering a small 'Ow…'

"Y-You don't remember…?" His face fell, along with his arms. I felt guilty as I shook my head.

"I don't know who you are…sorry man."

The blue-haired guy held his shoulder and dipped his head down low. "Damn…I thought you of all people would remember…"

I'm really confused…

Who is this guy?

"Asami, who is this?"

_His name is Jun Otero…he's known you since elementary school…or so he says. I don't really think he's the stalker type. He's a very excited guy…kinda annoying though I must admit._

"You know you love me Asami." He grinned once more, perking up. With her deep brown eyes she gave Jun an intense glare, which shrunk him into his shoes.

"Did you get today's mission?" I raised a hand to her. She nodded and showed me the similar text on her cell phone. I examined it carefully and nodded. "Well we should get going then!"

"Yeah, for Beat and Rhyme!" Driz gritted his teeth and approached the wall Reaper calmly. Asami gave me a curious look.

_Beat and Rhyme…?_

I felt the familiar heart pain coming back. My eyelids closed and my lips released a deep sigh.

"The Reapers…they…" I covered my arm and looked away. My former partner's eyes widened and she grasped me by the shoulders.

_They didn't?_

"They did."

Asami's arms went limp and fell to her sides. Her eyes were widened with the shock and the tears built very lightly at the corners.

"They only erased Rhyme, though…Beat's being taken care of by Mr. H…"

There was a little resolution in her battling pupils, but her face stood forlorn.

_They'll pay for this! _Her downcast eyes sparkled furiously.

I smiled. That's the Asami I know and love.

_Let's get Phones and Shiki so we can rape this mission! _

"No." I stated bluntly. She gave me another confused glance.

_What ELSE did I miss if you want to give up a chance next to Emo Boy?_

A small blush dusted my nose, but I glanced away. "I'm never talking to that jerk again."

_Alright, something's messed up here! _She shook her fists and looked at Driz for a further explanation.

"'Take care of this Noise' he says." Jun looked at me, his eyes empty of emotion due to Driz's explanation of what happened.

"Whatever." I muttered, raising my fists into combat position and entering the battle with the Noise. Jun was my zone buddy.

"So you don't remember me at all, Aki?" He peered back at me, the metal pole in his hands smashed on the skull of a frog Noise. I grunted a response and continued to deal blows with my fists, my Justice Served pyrotechnic psych pinned to my sleeve. Jun bit his tongue in thought and ran to my side, helping with the large bear Noise.

"We were best friends…I missed you when you were gone…" He lowered his eyes. I looked at his figure, trying to scan him for anything that would make me remember any of his claims. But I came up short of any answers and frowned sadly at him.

"Sorry."

"It's alright I guess…" He sighed. I watched his face twist when he swung his metal pole into the bear's flank. The Noise let out a roar and slashed his claws at Jun, whom merely dodge it and moved in close for an attack.

I followed suite, igniting my palms with my soot and feeling the soothing warmth from the preventative substance on my hands, blocking the pain and releasing the warmth instead. I tried out a new pin I found yesterday in battle, and found myself flung forward with sudden speed.

I discovered a velocity pin…and hell, I loved it.

My fiery fists came down upon the creature's head, and it hissed at me. Jun stabbed at it, and Driz's lightning shook the zone. Asami dealt one last fiery blow, and the Noise disappeared.

"Wall opened."

I landed gently on my feet, and sent my friends a heavy, unemotional look over my shoulder.

"Let's go."

We reached the familiar dark street of Spain Hill. The nearby Mexican Hot Dog shop was calling to me. I loved that restaurant, Driz and I used to eat there all the time. Quickly we came together and formed a plan.

"Alright, you two take that corner, and Asami and I will take this side." Jun nodded determined.

We nodded. "Right!"

Driz and I ran off further into the district.

"Ugh! Damn it!"

?

We looked over to the source of the voice, and caught sight of Shiki and Neku. Driz's eyes lit up and he looked to me, with a sort of pleading stare. I shook my head and frowned. His eyes sparkled and he grabbed my sleeve, giving it a light tug. Driz's pout was rare…but it was unbearable!

"Alright, alright, we'll help, just this once though." I clipped my velocity pin to my sleeve with my Justice Served and ignited my palms. Driz smirked at me, slowly disappearing into the other zone. I charged at the large Shark Noise approaching Neku, flames erupting around my arms.

"Nyah!" My shoulder slammed hard into the beast, which let out a loud cry and snapped at me. I flew backwards and skid on my feet to a stop, lifting my head to glare at the beast. It gave me an angry red eye and merged into the ground. Something 'pinged!' inside my head and I made sure to keep my eyes out for the Noise on the ground beneath me.

Neku's eyes found mine, but I quickly looked away, not wanting to fall into my emotions again. I changed my attention to a wolf Noise and kicked it with my running shoe.

Neku didn't speak, and stayed on his side of the zone.

While I was battling smaller Noise, the symbol glowed at my feet.

…I didn't notice until I heard the swirling of portal.

My ears perked and I jumped upwards, the jaw of the Shark grasping my shoe lace.

"Nya…damn it!" I kicked at its head and tried to freeze its top half. I did so, and smashed down on its nose. A couple penetrating bullets passed into its back. Neku slid over and burned it a bit, with my assistance.

The Shark let out a growl and disappeared again. Neku stopped hovering, landing on his feet. He tried to get through to my eyes again. I looked at him. I was definitely sure he saw the anger and frustration in my eyes when I finally looked away to the Shark again. It snapped at Neku's heels and I blast a bunch of vanishing powder into the air, blinding the Noise.

Neku finished the beast with a shockwave psych, and Shiki and Rai reappeared.

"T-Thanks you guys! It's always great to have some help against those Shark Noise…"

"I know right? They're really a pain." I smiled at her. She smiled at me, and then to Driz.

"I'm so glad you guys showed up! I thought Neku scared you guys off…"

"He did." I stated flatly. "I'm here to help you, Shiki." Bluntly, I turned my back on the other pact and looked at Asami and Jun…their battle much more interesting at that given moment. Neku had flinched in his shirt collar.

"O-Oh…" She fiddled with her cell phone, but perked up quickly. "I see you found Asami again!"

"Yeah, she had to make a real pact." Driz nodded, his eyes penetrating the concrete.

"Huh?" Shiki looked at us with confusion.

"Never mind." I laughed. She giggled behind her hand and linked arms with Driz. A light blush dusted his nose, but didn't mind.

"Let's go, 150 minutes still." I turned my body away and thumbed my Player pin, scanning the area for Noise.

After taking out countless hordes of Noise, Neku leaned up against a wall and panted heavily. Driz wasn't too far behind him. I had my hands on my knees and breathed quietly. Shiki panted on the spot as well.

"Huff…huff… This isn't working…" Shiki panted.

Neku stopped his panting and stood up straight. "We're not even making a dent. Why do more Noise keep showing up?"

"…because they're being drawn here." I concluded.

"Huh?" Shiki glanced at me curiously. Driz and Neku looked in my direction. Asami and Jun ran over.

"Guys—we're not even progressing the littlest…"

"They're being drawn here, Jun."

"H-Huh?" His jaw dropped a little bit. Shiki giggled at his expression.

_Share your wisdom, O' wise one._

I glared at Asami, who gave me a smirk.

"Remember when we had to get that part for A-East?" I started, they nodded at me. "Those Noise were drawn to the techie's negative feelings. So what if they're doing the same thing now?" I brushed back my hair and nodded proudly at my hypothesis.

"Wow. That's pretty convincing. You sure are smart Aki-chan." Shiki gave me a closed eyed smile. I smirked, and shook my head. "Thanks Shiki, but that's merely a guess…it could be different I dunno…"

"C'mon, Ai. What's wrong?"

!

The six of us looked over at the source of the voice.

"Look! Those two girls that just left the restaurant…" Shiki muttered, curiously tilting her head at them. Driz and I approached them carefully. The rest of the Player followed suite.

"Ai, are you mad at me?" one of the girls asked the other. I felt a familiar pair of eyes on me, but didn't look back at him.

"Don't be ridiculous." 'Ai' furrowed her eyebrows, the tone of sarcasm dripping in her tone.

Mina looked at her friend with curious eyes. "You…you sure?"

"Yes!" Ai snapped back at her, "OK?"

A bunch of red and orange Noise surrounded the girls, shocking the rest of us.

"Talk about your negative vibes…" Driz furrowed his blonde eyebrows.

"Whoa! Look at all the Noise!" Neku paused and crossed his arms in thought, "What's up with those two?"

_It sounds like they're having an argument…_

Asami looked at me and softened her eyes.

_Like someone I know?_

Shut up.

_Hey, calm down! Jeezus…_

I don't care, I'm angry at him, he can go to hell.

_That's what you say now…_she sighed.

I ignored her.

"That must be drawing the Noise-" Shiki slammed her fist on her opened palm.

"And that's our source…" Neku nodded.

"Then let's take down the Noise around them." Jun cheered, pulling out his weapon and motioning for Asami. She grinned and pulled out her cards. _Let's kick some ass!_

I pulled a 360 and came face to face with a vicious wolf Noise. I yelped and ducked when it pounced for me. I had my arms over my head and glared back at it. I shook my fist. "Rotten mammal!" and dive towards it with fist exposed. Face to face I bashed it, getting thrown around and kicked multiple times. I froze it and it became a block of ice.

That was my chance, so I kicked and punch the block until it shattered, taking the Noise with it. I 'whooped!', but unfortunately a bunch of frog noise leaped on my back. I hissed and swiped one away easily with my foot. The other disappeared under the wrath of a penetrating bullet from Neku's palm.

I brushed passed his shoulder without a glance or a look at him. I could swear I heard him sigh deeply. Jun and I took at a bear Noise. He leaped high up into the air and slammed down on the beast with a Shockwave. I sped forward with velocity and slammed down some vanishing powder, turning my surroundings black.

Agile, I fought against the bear in the dark ash. What I DIDN'T expect was the lucky shot it had when it slammed me back into my favourite lamppost.

I grunted, and blinked away tears of pain. My hands went straight to the back of my head and rubbed at the flesh softly. Man, I was definitely going to have a concussion. Jun helped me up and I gave him a curt nod before dashing outwards against.

The Noise disappeared with a roar and I saw a fallen Jun. I walked over to him and outstretched a (non-ignited) hand to help him up. He took it slowly and I used my bodyweight to help him up. I didn't notice the same blush dusted on his nose.

"That takes care of the Noise-Hold up!" Driz stood in combat position.

"Crap, this'll never work!" Neku did the same, raising his arms up.

"I wonder…" Shiki looked over to the pair of girls. "What's their story…?"

Mina put her cell phone back into her purse, "Hey, Ai, are you free around this time next week?"

Ai's quiet exterior was nerve-wracking. "…Probably. Why?"

Mina was taken aback a little. "N-nothing. Forget it."

"She's hiding something." I crossed my arms and focused on Mina. "Isn't that the girl we saw with that one guy yesterday?"

"Hey, yeah!" Shiki nodded to me with a grin.

"Maybe if we help them patch things up…" Neku spoke up quietly from his spot.

"The Noise will stop coming…" I finished. We shared eye contact and I just nodded plainly at him.

"Brilliant!" Shiki cheered, jumping up and down and getting into a battle stance.

"Let's do it then!" Driz agreed.

_Alright! Smarties._

Hush you.

_Make me._

Rrr…

"First we have to figure out what's wrong…" Neku crossed his arms.

Our party disbanded, Driz and I went with Shiki and Neku to Tipsy Tose Hall, while Jun and Asami went to examine Molco.

Driz walked alongside Shiki, flirting no doubt. This left me close by with Neku. It was awkwardly quiet as I did my best to ignore him.

"…Akiko."

"Mm?" I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.

He took in a deep breath. "Are you angry with me?"

I swear there was a vein on my head.

"Oh, definitely not!" I said, the anger in my voice escaping a little bit. The orange-haired teenager scratched the back of his neck, his eyebrows furrowed.

"God you're so difficult."

"Oh, I'M difficult? Excuse me for wanting to make friends, Neku. Excuse me." I retorted, my voice slowly becoming weaker. "You know, I just thought you were quiet by choice but you're a totally anti-social monster. You're worse than me."

Neku groaned and shook his head.

"Whatever, I see you're not going to let up on this soon."

"I'm not going to let up on this ever, Neku."

He examined my face with his blue eyes, and thought. The boy thought hard for a few minutes.

"Aren't you the monster here?"

"What?" I growled at him. "Wanna say that again punk?"

"…" He paused, and looked up from his collar.

"You're accusing me of being a 'monster' because of who I am." Neku lifted his head, his bangs bouncing a lit. "But you're judging me because of how I want to be, alone."

"If I want to be alone, if I don't want the pain of caring about people, what are you to care? Who are you to judge me because of whom I am?"

I blinked, and looked down. The anger raged through my veins. "I cared, thought you were my friend. Rhyme was our friend! You treat us like nothing; you didn't care about her, why wouldn't I be angry?"

"Well why would you?" He glared. "Who wants to be friends with the anti-social monster?"

I straighten my back and took in air, glaring at him.

"Me."

"Guys! Check this out!" Driz called from afar. I nudged Neku's shoulder with mine when I passed by. He stood, frozen on the spot, and let out an angry grunt before approaching Driz and Shiki.

There was a business man standing in front of them. Driz had his hand stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm… What should I do? I know! I'll ask "Reaper Creeper"!" The man suddenly exclaimed.

"What's up with that guy?-" Neku examined the man with his eyebrows raised. The business man had set up a piece of paper and set a coin down, chanting 'Reaper…Creeper…'. "Is he having a stroke?" Neku flicked a strand of his long bangs out of his face with annoyance.

Shiki snapped her fingers. "It looks like some kind of divination! See how he put that ten-yen coin on the paper? He's going to make a decision based on where it moves."

"When HE moves it, you mean."

"It won't move by its self yo." Driz shrugged.

"Unless we move it." I felt the smirk on my face slowly grow larger. Evil thoughts were taking place in my mind. Shiki smirked evilly to me as well.

"Hey Neku, think you could use your psychs to give the coin a little push?" She turned to the orange haired boy.

He pondered before nodding slowly.

Neku took out a pin and slowly grasped the coin on the page. The man's eyes widened and his lips made a complete 'o' as the coin slowly moved to white.

"White! An answer, clear as day! Nothing beats Reaper Creeper when you need answers. All right, White means… Umm… What did I ask again? … Reaper… Creeper… What was my last question?"

"…" Neku face palmed. "Let's move on."

"Let's." Shiki agreed.

The four of us moved back to Spain Hill. I made sure to stay next to Driz at all times.

When we got back to the girls, Asami and Jun greeted us casually.

"Find anything?"

"Yeah, we have a meme." Shiki smiled.

_Oh! Do share! _Asami smiled, eagerly awaiting the meme with her phone in her grasps.

"Reaper Creeper." I laughed at her posture, but shrugged it off.

Her cell phone and Jun's vibrated.

"Mina…" Ai glared at her friend evilly. I feel another fight coming on…

"You really didn't go to Shibu yesterday?"

Mina's eye twitched, "I…I didn't. I swear! Quit asking, Ai."

Ai turned away, "Sure, whatever."

Driz turned to Neku. "Go for it, Phones."

He nodded and scanned the girl quietly. His face twisted into different emotions as the thoughts went through his head. First his eyebrows were furrowed, then they calmed and returned to their places on his face. The teen's eyes opened and his sapphire orbs glanced at us before he gave a curt nod.

"Say…Mina..." Ai's face was completely evil, plotting even.

"Hmm? What's up?" Mina turned to face her friends innocently.

"Ever heard of "Reaper Creeper"?"

"Reaper Creeper… Oh, yeah! That magic game people were talking about at school, right? The one that answers your questions!"

"Wanna try it?" Ai smirked.

"Sure! Sounds like fun!" Mina smiled sweetly. Oh dear…

"Are we gonna fake it guys?" Jun frowned, the sad look in his eyes.

"We're gonna have to…go on Neku." I sighed.

He obeyed quietly, raising his hand with the pin locked between his fingers.

"So…if we're going to clear this up…"

"Ai needs to know the truth." Neku muttered. We look at him, half of us agreeing, the other not…

"But…that's really risky. Ai suspects Mina. She thinks Mina is after the boy she likes. If she finds out Mina has been lying, their friendship is sunk!" Shiki quietly folds her hands together.

"Exactly. That Mina girl is lying. And Ai is gonna find out eventually whether we cover it up or not. Better we clear things up now." Neku furrowed his eyebrows at her. She cowered a little bit.

"Well… I don't know…"

"Lying isn't right."

I downcast my eyes. Yeah…he's right.

"Go for it Neku." I nodded with a weak smile. I glanced at me from the corner of his eyes and nodded with a small hum.

Ai explained the rules of Reaper Creeper to Mina, and they both came to the conclusion that Mina would summon the Reaper…meaning our little Orangeylocks.

"Reaper…Creeper… Before we get in much deeper… If you're here all right, go to White!"

Softly, his moved his hand to the right. The coin slid to the white target.

The girls blinked, eyes widened with shock.

"White! Cool… The coin really moved! So, like… We said "if you're here, go to White." And it went to White." Mina jumped up and down, extremely excited. I giggled a little bit. Someone was sure excited of Neku's presence. Asami laughed in my mind. "Whoa… That means… … The Reaper's here! Creepy! Can you believe it? Reapers really exist!"

"That's right. And they can see right through a lie." Ai said viciously.

"Scary!"

"Hmm… Why don't I ask about you?"

"W-what?" Mina's eyes widened again, not because of her excited find this time.

"Jeez, this girl IS evil…" I muttered, Driz nodded in agreement.

_She's kinda scary…_

I agree, Asami.

"Reaper…Creeper…If Mina has a boy she likes, go to White!"

Shiki bit her lower lip. Neku sighed, and slowly slid the coin to white again.

"Aha! White!"

"Um, Ai-" But Ai interrupted her before she could continue.

"Next question!"

"Ai… This isn't like you." Mina backed away a little.

I didn't like this, not one bit. Damn it…friendships are so difficult…Maybe Neku's right…no! I'm not going to agree with him…

"REAPER. CREEPER. If Mina has secrets that should be brought to light…go to White!"

Neku's eyes widened at the intense thoughts Ai was thinking, and he nervously moved the coin to white. Ai growled low in her through and gave Mina a hard glare. Shiki linked her arm with Driz, whom stroked her arm softly.

"I knew you were hiding something Mina! One last question!"

"This is insane! She's nuts!" I gasped.

"Definitely." Neku nodded.

"Ai…please stop…" Mina pleaded, her eyes watering. Ai looked like she had much bigger plans on her mind. She pointed at the coin, a true fierce look on her face.

"REAPER. CREEPER. Yesterday Mina met with Makoto." Mina's eyes went wide and she clutched her arm nervously, "And she LIED to me about it. If I'm right…GO TO WHITE!"

Neku's eyes softened. He was about to move the coin, but Mina spoke up for herself.

"What? Ai, you knew about that? Aww…You saw us?"

"Yes! I know all about you. You and Makoto and your little-"

Mina pulled out an envelope from her purse and thrust it into Ai hands, her eyes looking away from her friend. "Here."

"W-What…two tickets to the Tin-Pin Slam-off? How could you Mina…" Ai's hopes fell from her eyes, the sadness seeping into her. "You knew I liked Makoto…"

"I'm sorry. That's why I tried to help."

"Help?" I said curiously. How did she…help…?

"Ohhhh!" Shiki perked up.

_The tickets were for Ai and Makoto._

"Makoto wants to go to the Molco slam-off. But he couldn't get a ticket. He told me yesterday. So I started mailing my friends. I figured, you know, maybe if I scored two tickets…"

"Oh, Mina. You didn't…" Ai raised a hand to her face, covering her lips.

Mina smiled softly, and folded her hands together. "You and Makoto go have a great time."

"You got them for me?" She gasped.

"Yup! Now you can put the moves on him!" Mina giggled, rubbing the back of her neck. I smiled. What a smart girl. If my friends did that for me…

…Okay I'd kill them for putting me on the spot like that…but hell I'd be so grateful.

"Mina…" Ai bowed her head, the shame written all over her face, "I'm so sorry… I totally got the wrong idea…"

"It's fine…I shouldn't have lied about it…but I didn't want you to find out." Mina shrugged. "We're friends anyway. What's a little argument?"

I lifted my head and looked at Neku, who was looking at the girls. Yet his eyes shifted in my direction and met mine. Nervously, I smiled. He blinked, but lifted the corners of his lips slightly.

"…Yeah." Ai nodded a genuine smile on her face.

_The Noise are thinning out, guys! _Asami interrupted the moment.

Way to kill the moment, psy-chick!

_Just get the mission done, lazy!_

Rawr.

"C'mon Aki!" Rai waved me over. I followed him, sprinting to battle at his side.

There were three Shark Noise in the zone.

"Damn it! Neku, Jun, watch our backs, alright?" I hissed at them.

"Right." Neku ran passed me and made sure to stand behind me. I had a feeling that the silent battle between us was over. Jun's eyes narrowed at the sight, but he continued to battle the bear Noise. The shark Noise formed at Neku's shoes and I panicked, slamming his back with mine to push us both out of the way.

He fell to his knees, shook his head roughly, and got back up. I did the same, gearing towards the animal and burning it. It roared and disappeared, leaving one left.

"I'll take care of this one." Neku pulled out a shockwave pin before nodding to me and running ahead. I made sure to keep close to the combat in case he fell. Every time he fell back, I would jump in and deal damage until there was nothing left to destroy.

"Timer's gone yo, but the giraffes aren't." Driz sighed, scratching his neck. We laughed at him.

_We did it, mission complete! _Asami glomped Jun, who laughed and patted her head.

"Looks like Ai and Mina made up too." Shiki smiled at the two girls.

"Hey, let me take you out to eat. It's the least I can do." Ai patted Mina on the back. They walked up to a restaurant not far up the street.

"Aww, see how nice it is to have friends, Neku?" Shiki cooed.

Neku brushed his bangs out of his face with an annoyed look.

"Sure, you may butt heads now and then, but life is more fun that way."

Asami, Driz, and Jun started up a conversation about ice cream, leaving me with Shiki and Neku.

"I don't see the point of a relationship built on lies." Neku huffed, crossing his arms.

"…You don't lie to make friends Neku," I sighed, sweat dropping a little.

"I agree, that wouldn't be right." Shiki placed her hands over her stomach. "But sometimes, you need to tell a fib because you ARE friends."

"Not all secrets are bad secrets." I pointed out.

"Exactly!" Shiki smiled, patting my shoulder. Her smile faded as she reach for her cell phone and stared fixedly on the picture in the background.

She quietly got rid of it, though. "Hey, Neku? Yesterday you said we were better off without friends…You really think so?"

I flinched, hiding my face and making sure to look at something else. Not this again…

"…" Neku didn't respond right away.

So Shiki continued to ramble.

"Eri used to do everything for me. There was nothing she COULDN'T do." Shiki's eyes casted a shadow, "She had a ton of friends. Everybody at school loved her, because she was so outgoing. And the outfits she designed were so cute."

"Sounds like a girl that I know." I added quickly. Shiki smiled at me sweetly, which I returned.

"Eri was the one who got me started making clothes!"

"I thought that pig of yours was the reason." Neku snorted.

I started to laugh…a lot.

"P-Pig!"

Shiki huffed hotly. "He's a CAT! Ugh."

I continued to snicker under my breath.

"Anyway… She saw me making Mr. Mew. And then she said: "Wow, you're really good with a needle."" We listened to her and nodded softly.

"So we got talking, and she let me help her make clothes. I owe her everything. She gave me purpose."

"It sounds like she's an idol to you." I smiled. Shiki frowned, but nodded to me. "Yeah…pretty much. She made me want to be something more."

"…you know…Rhyme said she never knew what dreams were like…and now she'll never know…" Shiki sobbed quietly.

"…I know…it's not fair." I muttered softly.

"I know… I…I'm sad, too…" I glanced at Neku, completely surprised. "We'll just have to live a little extra. For her sake."

"You mean it Neky!"

"Neky!" He blurted, looking at me with a soft blush over his nose. Shiki laughed at his expression and my sudden happiness.

"Well, we should…if we get a second chance…" Shiki sighed, coming out of her giggled fit.

"Yeah…" I nodded solemnly.

Neku stayed quiet, pondering.

"I wish I knew…" He started, but was quickly interrupted.

"Hello, young lady."

We wiped our head around to come face-to-face with a wall of a man. His hair is dreadfully curly and burly. He has a ram belt around his waist and his eyes watch us menacingly. He smirked at us.

"A Reaper!" Neku exclaimed, raising his fists. I did the same at his side.

_RAM CROTCH REAPER! He's so creepy! _Asami flailed.

Ram crotch…nice nickname there Asami.

_Hell yeah!_

"Correct. But not just any Reaper. I am Yodai Higashizawa… Game Master by proxy." The man smirked again, eyeing Shiki.

"Game Master… So you're in charge?" Neku hissed.

"Correct again."

"T-Then Rhyme is gone because of you, bastard!" Driz raised his arm into the air and pointed at the man with a look of vengeance on his face.

"I detest leftovers."—who is this creep?—"No Players were meant to escape yesterday's chowder of destruction. Do you know why you alone survived?"

We looked at each other…and came up with nothing.

"Because you are strong."

_Why thank you, mister Reaper._

I chuckled softly.

"It's a dog-eat-dog world." He strutted around us. We made sure to keep all eyes on him incase he tried to do something funny. "A logical hierarchy much like the food chain. The strong reach the top and win the Game, while the weak are left behind, the heels of the proverbial loaf."

"H-How dare you!" Jun shook his fist.

"Rhyme sacrificed herself for Beat! You call that weak you worm!" I cried.

"I admire you children and your intense strength that is as strong as a holiday fruit cake"—I looked at Driz, whom shrugged back at me—"This calls for a taste test! Let us see how you fare as fare for the Noise!"

A bunch of new, stronger noise appeared. Silver bears and orange sharks, a couple of purple frogs and red and blue birds. We all glared at the Reaper, the determination in our eyes.

"Get ready for some ass-kicking!" I growled, using my velocity pin to smash my body into the silver bear. Neku took out some of the bird with the power of lightning. Jun was focusing more on the frogs and birds. Neku narrowly dodged a shark, which I dive in and smashed its skull to bits.

Driz whistled for me in my mind, and I glanced up at my forehead.

"What is it, Driz?"

"_I think we should fuse now."_

I nodded, and crossed paths with him.

"**Game over fools!" **

"**Not quite!"**

The field exploded in a burst of flames and bolts. The heat intensified dramatically and the two of us slid over the ground covered by our respected element. I fired a bunch of fire balls into the air, and Driz did the same with his lightning.

The limit was over and I quickly rushed to help my zone partners in their battles. Jun was focusing on his shark buddies. I leaned forward and froze the beast to the best of my ability before saluting and rushing to help Neku. He jumped upwards and landed next to me before turning his head and firing a bunch of penetrating bullets to the silver bear Noise behind him.

"How's it hanging?" I smirked. He scoffed, smirking back.

"Just get to work."

"Sure sure." I ignited my hands with a smirk and rushed forward with a burst of speed. Shiki dealt the final blow with Mr. Mew and Asami's water beams.

We panted loudly, but quickly regained composure and glared at Higashizawa.

"Heh heh… I see I've sunk my teeth into something good."

"We weren't about to lose to the likes of you!" I yelped.

"Now you're gonna pay for what you did to Rhyme, jerk!" Shiki said.

"Sadly, I've had my fill for the day. I only came here to meet you, young lady."

Driz pushed passed me. "Her? Why!"

"To get a closer look, of course. At the charcoal-black envy beneath the barbecue of her heart." Higashizawa smirked and turned on his heel.

Shiki crossed her arms, pouting. "I…I don't understand."

"Oh, but don't you?" He smirked. "You can't fool me. You know the feelings are there, so you bury them. Your talk of loyalty, of dreams and friendship… They're no more than a lid on your stir-fry of jealousy."

What's with this guy and food?

"Oh, how deeply you must hate yourself. You have EXACTLY what you always wanted…but it's not enough, is it?"

Shiki looked down, shadowing her eyes.

"No one loves you. You can't love yourself. And so the jealousy consumes you."

"S-Stop it!" She cried.

"Shut up! You liar!" Driz shouted at him. Jun and I gave mumbled protests at the fat man.

"That friend sugar coating can't sweeten the selfishness inside you. You think you're more important than anyone else. And THAT'S where jealousy begins…"

"No…no I'm not-"

"You are. And you know it. Why else would your entry fee be-"

"Don't! Don't say it! Stop!" She covered her ears and fell to her knees. Driz came to her aid, glaring daggers at Higashizawa.

The man threw back his head and laughed. "That complex of yours is a bruise on the tomato of your soul."

"No, I… I'm just…" She ran out of words to say. I stood there, breathless. As did Jun, and Asami, who was screaming in my head like always. Driz didn't speak a word, and Neku was just as shocked as me.

"Nothing will change if you are restored to life." He spat at us. "You'll just go on hating yourself and being jealous of everybody else."

"No… Please don't…" Shiki suddenly got up and ran off, tears streaming down her face.

"S-Shiki!" Driz ran after her.

I watched her run off, Asami followed quickly after my brother.

I turned to the man. "You're pathetic, g-get out of here…" I hissed, my shoulders shaking with rage.

Higashizawa smirked and bowed to us three. "… See you on Day 7. Keep it fresh. Take care, fools."

He disappeared. I growled, but held a hand to my head and sighed.

"All this 'Game' stuff is killing me…excuse the pun."

Jun chuckled, but nodded sadly.

Neku was deep in thought. He looked up at me and spoke again. "We should go after them. Make sure she's okay."

"Aww, Neky…" I gushed, walking towards the other district. "You do care."

He rolled his eyes and followed after me. "Shut up Aki."

When we found the other three, they had calmed Shiki down quite a bit.

"Are you okay, Shiki?"

She didn't speak, but she gave a nod of the head and held her hands behind her back. "Sorry I over-reacted…"

"It's fine; just don't run off again, you'll erase Neku or something." Jun smiled. She giggled.

"You know what'll cheer you up? A sundae!" I gave a thumb up. They all looked at me like I was insane. If you're gonna do that, stare at Driz…

"What? Those other girls did it, and they're friends and all…c'mon I'll pay for all of us.

"Free ice cream? Hell, let's go guys. Aki's buying!" Jun cheered, running off in the opposite direction.

We chuckled softly and followed after him.

When we were in the shop, I noticed just how little of us must be left…what if we lost one of our friends? Does that mean they're gone forever…?

"Akiko, your ice cream's melting." Neku woke me from my thoughts. My spoon was hovering over my bowl, the contents dripping back into the bowl. Driz laughed at me, comforting Shiki by holding her hand. Her face was bright red. I giggled, and ate what was on the spoon.

Neku reached for his MP3 player in his left pocket. As he did so, his finger brushed passed the back of my hand. His shoulders flinched and his hand stopped its movement for a few seconds. I felt a shock go through my arm and into my body. His nose was dusted a light red, as was mine, but I tried looking down into my bowl instead of drawing attention to myself.

He continued to reach for his MP3 player.

I felt my lips curve into a smile, and continued to eat my ice cream.

"What's up with you two?" Jun tilted his head.

"Nothing." We both responded.

_Sureee…ow!_

I kicked Asami's knee across from me.

Maybe being friends with Neku wasn't so bad…

"Here's your check, ma'am."

"…AHH!"


End file.
